Soybean cultivar 85331715

ABSTRACT

A soybean cultivar designated 85331715 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 85331715, to the plants of soybean 85331715, to plant parts of soybean cultivar 85331715 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean cultivar 85331715 with itself or with another soybean variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from soybean variety 85331715, to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 85331715 and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the cultivar 85331715 with another soybean cultivar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinctive soybean cultivar,designated 85331715. All publications cited in this application areherein incorporated by reference.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possesses the traits tomeet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance todiseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought andheat, and better agronomic quality.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F₁ hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superiorindividual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective,whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based onmean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of relatedplants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection,modified pedigree selection, mass selection, and recurrent selection.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes fora highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. This approach hasbeen used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars. Variousrecurrent selection techniques are used to improve quantitativelyinherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use of recurrentselection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease of pollination,the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination and the numberof hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation ofthe efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria varydepending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain fromselection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard,overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successfulcultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollarexpended, etc.).

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared toappropriate standards in environments representative of the commercialtarget area(s) for three or more years. The best lines are candidatesfor new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a few traits maybe used as parents to produce new populations for further selection.

These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing anddistribution, usually take from eight to twelve years from the time thefirst cross is made. Therefore, development of new cultivars is atime-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficientuse of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction.

A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that aregenetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic valueis masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standardcultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicatedobservations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth.

The goal of soybean plant breeding is to develop new, unique andsuperior soybean cultivars and hybrids. The breeder initially selectsand crosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing andselection, producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder cantheoretically generate billions of different genetic combinations viacrossing, selection, selfing and mutations. Therefore, a breeder willnever develop the same line, or even very similar lines, having the samesoybean traits from the exact same parents.

Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to thenext generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and differentgeographical, climatic and soil conditions and further selections arethen made during and at the end of the growing season. The cultivarsthat are developed are unpredictable because the breeder's selectionoccurs in unique environments with no control at the DNA level, and withmillions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. Abreeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resultinglines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion.The same breeder cannot produce the same cultivar twice by using thesame original parents and the same selection techniques. Thisunpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts of researchmonies to develop superior new soybean cultivars.

The development of new soybean cultivars requires the development andselection of soybean varieties, the crossing of these varieties andselection of superior hybrid crosses. The hybrid seed is produced bymanual crosses between selected male-fertile parents or by using malesterility systems. These hybrids are selected for certain single genetraits such as pod color, flower color, pubescence color or herbicideresistance which indicate that the seed is truly a hybrid. Additionaldata on parental lines, as well as the phenotype of the hybrid,influence the breeder's decision whether to continue with the specifichybrid cross.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used todevelop cultivars from breeding populations. Breeding programs combinedesirable traits from two or more cultivars or various broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new cultivars areevaluated to determine which have commercial potential.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement ofself-pollinating crops. Two parents that possess favorable,complementary traits are crossed to produce an F₁. An F₂ population isproduced by selfing one or several F₁s. Selection of the bestindividuals may begin in the F₂ population; then, beginning in the F₃,the best individuals in the best families are selected. Replicatedtesting of families can begin in the F₄ generation to improve theeffectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At anadvanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F₆ and F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potentialrelease as new cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified, or created,by intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait tobe transferred is called the donor parent. After the initial cross,individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent are selectedand repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. Theresulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrentparent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from thedonor parent.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F₂ to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F₂ individuals. The number of plants in a population declineseach generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plantsto produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F₂ plantsoriginally sampled in the population will be represented by a progenywhen generation advance is completed.

In a multiple-seed procedure, soybean breeders commonly harvest one ormore pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together toform a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation andpart is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modifiedsingle-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique.

The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. Itis considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove oneseed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seedprocedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of apopulation each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested tomake up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed.

In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant can alsobe examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available forthe analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; amongthese are Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs),Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats(SSRs—which are also referred to as Microsatellites), and SingleNucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs).

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivarthat is compatible with industry standards or which creates a newmarket. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional coststo the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer for specialadvertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial productionpractices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release ofa new cultivar should take into consideration research and developmentcosts as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. Forseed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easilyand economically.

Soybean, Glycine max (L), is an important and valuable field crop. Thus,a continuing goal of soybean plant breeders is to develop stable, highyielding soybean cultivars that are agronomically sound. The reasons forthis goal are obviously to maximize the amount of grain produced on theland used and to supply food for both animals and humans. To accomplishthis goal, the soybean breeder must select and develop soybean plantsthat have traits that result in superior cultivars.

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations relatedtherewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Otherlimitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill inthe art upon a reading of the specification.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described inconjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to beexemplary, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more ofthe above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, whileother embodiments are directed to other improvements.

According to the invention, there is provided a new soybean cultivardesignated 85331715. This invention thus relates to the seeds of soybeancultivar 85331715, to the plants of soybean cultivar 85331715 and tomethods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing the soybeancultivar 85331715 with itself or another soybean cultivar, and thecreation of variants by mutagenesis or transformation of soybeancultivar 85331715.

Thus, any such methods using the soybean cultivar 85331715 are part ofthis invention: selfing, backcrosses, hybrid production, crosses topopulations, and the like. All plants produced using soybean cultivar85331715 as at least one parent are within the scope of this invention.Advantageously, the soybean cultivar could be used in crosses withother, different, soybean plants to produce first generation (F₁)soybean hybrid seeds and plants with superior characteristics.

In another aspect, the present invention provides for single or multiplegene converted plants of soybean cultivar 85331715. The transferredgene(s) may preferably be a dominant or recessive allele. Preferably,the transferred gene(s) will confer such traits as herbicide resistance,insect resistance, resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease,male fertility, male sterility, enhanced nutritional quality, modifiedfatty acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism, modified seedyield, modified oil percent, modified protein percent, modified lodgingresistance, modified shattering, modified iron-deficiency chlorosis andindustrial usage. The gene may be a naturally occurring soybean gene ora transgene introduced through genetic engineering techniques.

In another aspect, the present invention provides regenerable cells foruse in tissue culture of soybean plant 85331715. The tissue culture willpreferably be capable of regenerating plants having all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the foregoing soybeanplant, and of regenerating plants having substantially the same genotypeas the foregoing soybean plant. Preferably, the regenerable cells insuch tissue cultures will be embryos, protoplasts, meristematic cells,callus, pollen, leaves, ovules, anthers, cotyledons, hypocotyl, pistils,roots, root tips, flowers, seeds, petiole, pods or stems. Still further,the present invention provides soybean plants regenerated from thetissue cultures of the invention.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above,further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by study of thefollowing descriptions.

DEFINITIONS

In the description and tables that follow, a number of terms are used.In order to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, including the scope to be given such terms,the following definitions are provided:

Allele. An allele is any of one or more alternative forms of a genewhich relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cell ororganism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding loci on apair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing. Backcrossing is a process in which a breeder repeatedlycrosses hybrid progeny back to one of the parents, for example, a firstgeneration hybrid F₁ with one of the parental genotypes of the F₁hybrid.

Alter. The utilization of up-regulation, down-regulation, or genesilencing.

Brown Stem Rot. This is a visual disease score from 1 to 9 comparing allgenotypes in a given test. The score is based on leaf symptoms ofyellowing and necrosis caused by brown stem rot. Visual scores rangefrom a score of 9, which indicates no symptoms, to a score of 1 whichindicates severe symptoms of leaf yellowing and necrosis.

Cell. Cell as used herein includes a plant cell, whether isolated, intissue culture or incorporated in a plant or plant part.

Cotyledon. A cotyledon is a type of seed leaf. The cotyledon containsthe food storage tissues of the seed.

Embryo. The embryo is the small plant contained within a mature seed.

Emergence. This score indicates the ability of the seed to emerge whenplanted 3″ deep in sand at a controlled temperature of 25° C. The numberof plants that emerge each day are counted. Based on this data, eachgenotype is given a 1 to 9 score based on its rate of emergence andpercent of emergence. A score of 9 indicates an excellent rate andpercent of emergence, an intermediate score of 5 indicates averageratings and a 1 score indicates a very poor rate and percent ofemergence.

F₃. The “F₃” symbol denotes a generation resulting from the selfing ofthe F₂ generation along with selection for type and rogueing ofoff-types. The “F” number is a term commonly used in genetics, anddesignates the number of the filial generation. The “F₃” generationdenotes the offspring resulting from the selfing or self mating ofmembers of the generation having the next lower “F” number, viz. the F₂generation.

Gene. As used herein, “gene” refers to a segment of nucleic acid. A genecan be introduced into a genome of a species, whether from a differentspecies or from the same species, using transformation or variousbreeding methods.

Gene Silencing. The interruption or suppression of the expression of agene at the level of transcription or translation.

Genotype. Refers to the genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Hilum. This refers to the scar left on the seed that marks the placewhere the seed was attached to the pod prior to the seed beingharvested.

Hypocotyl. A hypocotyl is the portion of an embryo or seedling betweenthe cotyledons and the root. Therefore, it can be considered atransition zone between shoot and root.

Iron Deficiency Chlorosis. Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) is ayellowing of the leaves caused by a lack of iron in the soybean plant.Iron is essential in the formation of chlorophyll, which gives plantstheir green color. In high pH soils iron becomes insoluble and cannot beabsorbed by plant roots. Soybean cultivars differ in their geneticability to utilize the available iron. A score of 9 means no stunting ofthe plants or yellowing of the leaves and a score of 1 indicates theplants are dead or dying caused by iron deficiency, a score of 5 meansplants have intermediate health with some leaf yellowing.

Linkage. Refers to a phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosometend to segregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Linkage Disequilibrium. Refers to a phenomenon wherein alleles tend toremain together in linkage groups when segregating from parents tooffspring, with a greater frequency than expected from their individualfrequencies.

Linoleic Acid Percent. Linoleic acid is one of the five most abundantfatty acids in soybean seeds. It is measured by gas chromatography andis reported as a percent of the total oil content.

Locus. A locus confers one or more traits such as, for example, malesterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance,waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acidmetabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified proteinmetabolism. The trait may be, for example, conferred by a naturallyoccurring gene introduced into the genome of the variety bybackcrossing, a natural or induced mutation, or a transgene introducedthrough genetic transformation techniques. A locus may comprise one ormore alleles integrated at a single chromosomal location.

Lodging Resistance. Lodging is rated on a scale of 1 to 9. A score of 9indicates erect plants. A score of 5 indicates plants are leaning at a45° angle in relation to the ground and a score of 1 indicates plantsare lying on the ground.

Maturity Date. Plants are considered mature when 95% of the pods havereached their mature color. The number of days are calculated eitherfrom August 31 or from the planting date.

Maturity Group. This refers to an agreed-on industry division of groupsof varieties based on zones in which they are adapted, primarilyaccording to day length or latitude. They consist of very long daylength varieties (Groups 000, 00, 0), and extend to very short daylength varieties (Groups VII, VII, IX, X).

Relative Maturity (RM). The term relative maturity is a numerical valuethat is assigned to a soybean variety based on comparisons with thematurity values of other varieties. The number preceding the decimalpoint in the RM refers to the maturity group. The number following thedecimal point refers to the relative earliness or lateness within eachmaturity group. For example, a 3.0 is an early group III variety, whilea 3.9 is a late group III variety.

Oil or oil percent. Soybean seeds contain a considerable amount of oil.Oil is measured by NIR spectrophotometry, and is reported as apercentage basis.

Oleic Acid Percent. Oleic acid is one of the five most abundant fattyacids in soybean seeds. It is measured by gas chromatography and isreported as a percent of the total oil content.

Palmitic Acid Percent. Palmitic acid is one of the five most abundantfatty acids in soybean seeds. It is measured by gas chromatography andis reported as a percent of the total oil content.

Pedigree Distance. Relationship among generations based on theirancestral links as evidenced in pedigrees. May be measured by thedistance of the pedigree from a given starting point in the ancestry.

Percent Identity. Percent identity as used herein refers to thecomparison of the homozygous alleles of two soybean varieties. Percentidentity is determined by comparing a statistically significant numberof the homozygous alleles of two developed varieties. For example, apercent identity of 90% between soybean variety 1 and soybean variety 2means that the two varieties have the same allele at 90% of their loci.

Percent Similarity. Percent similarity as used herein refers to thecomparison of the homozygous alleles of a soybean variety such assoybean cultivar 85331715 with another plant, and if the homozygousallele of soybean cultivar 85331715 matches at least one of the allelesfrom the other plant then they are scored as similar. Percent similarityis determined by comparing a statistically significant number of lociand recording the number of loci with similar alleles as a percentage. Apercent similarity of 90% between soybean cultivar 85331715 and anotherplant means that soybean cultivar 85331715 matches at least one of thealleles of the other plant at 90% of the loci.

Phytophthora Tolerance. Tolerance to Phytophthora root rot is rated on ascale of 1 to 9, with a score of 9 being the best or highest toleranceranging down to a score of 1 which indicates the plants have notolerance to Phytophthora.

Phenotypic Score. The Phenotypic Score is a visual rating of generalappearance of the variety. All visual traits are considered in the scoreincluding healthiness, standability, appearance and freedom of disease.Ratings are scored from 1 being poor to 9 being excellent.

Plant. As used herein, the term “plant” includes reference to animmature or mature whole plant, including a plant from which seed orgrain or anthers have been removed. Seed or embryo that will produce theplant is also considered to be the plant.

Plant Height. Plant height is taken from the top of the soil to the topnode of the plant and is measured in centimeters.

Plant Parts. As used herein, the term “plant parts” (or a soybean plant,or a part thereof) includes but is not limited to protoplasts, leaves,stems, roots, root tips, anthers, pistils, seed, grain, embryo, pollen,ovules, cotyledon, hypocotyl, pod, flower, shoot, tissue, petiole,cells, meristematic cells and the like.

Pod. This refers to the fruit of a soybean plant. It consists of thehull or shell (pericarp) and the soybean seeds.

Progeny. As used herein, includes an F₁ soybean plant produced from thecross of two soybean plants where at least one plant includes soybeancultivar 85331715 and progeny further includes but is not limited tosubsequent F₂, F₃, F₄, F₅, F₆, F₇, F₈, F₉, and F₁₀ generational crosseswith the recurrent parental line.

Protein Percent. Soybean seeds contain a considerable amount of protein.Protein is generally measured by NIR spectrophotometry and is reportedon an as is percentage basis.

Pubescence. This refers to a covering of very fine hairs closelyarranged on the leaves, stems and pods of the soybean plant.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL). Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that control to some degree numerically representabletraits that are usually continuously distributed.

Regeneration. Regeneration refers to the development of a plant fromtissue culture.

Seed Protein Peroxidase Activity. Seed protein peroxidase activityrefers to a chemical taxonomic technique to separate cultivars based onthe presence or absence of the peroxidase enzyme in the seed coat. Thereare two types of soybean cultivars, those having high peroxidaseactivity (dark red color) and those having low peroxidase activity (nocolor).

Seed Yield (Bushels/Acre). The yield in bushels/acre is the actual yieldof the grain at harvest.

Seeds per Pound. Soybean seeds vary in seed size, therefore, the numberof seeds required to make up one pound also varies. The number of seedsper pound affect the pounds of seed required to plant a given area andcan also impact end uses.

Shattering. The amount of pod dehiscence prior to harvest. Poddehiscence involves seeds falling from the pods to the soil. This is avisual score from 1 to 9 comparing all genotypes within a given test. Ascore of 9 means pods have not opened and no seeds have fallen out. Ascore of 5 indicates approximately 50% of the pods have opened, withseeds falling to the ground and a score of 1 indicates 100% of the podsare opened.

Single Gene Converted (Conversion). Single gene converted (conversion)plants refers to plants which are developed by a plant breedingtechnique called backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desiredmorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the single gene transferred into the varietyvia the backcrossing technique or via genetic engineering.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Soybean cultivar 85331715 is a late-maturity group I variety withresistance to glyphosate herbicides, including ROUNDUP herbicide.Additionally, soybean cultivar 85331715 contains the Rps 1a geneconferring resistance to Phytophthora Root Rot and the rhg 1 geneconferring resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode. Soybean cultivar85331715 has very high yield potential when compared to lines of similarmaturity and has excellent agronomic characteristics including lodgingresistance.

Some of the selection criteria used for various generations include:seed yield, lodging resistance, emergence, disease tolerance, maturity,late season plant intactness, plant height and shattering resistance.

The cultivar has shown uniformity and stability, as described in thefollowing variety description information. It has been self-pollinated asufficient number of generations with careful attention to uniformity ofplant type. The line has been increased with continued observation foruniformity.

Soybean cultivar 85331715 has the following morphologic and othercharacteristics (based primarily on data collected at Adel, Iowa).

TABLE 1 VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION Seed Coat Color (Mature Seed):Yellow Seed Coat Luster (Mature Hand Dull Shelled Seed): Cotyledon Color(Mature Seed): Yellow Leaflet Shape: Ovate Growth Habit: IndeterminateFlower Color: Purple Hilum Color (Mature Seed): Imperfect black PlantPubescence Color: Gray Pod Wall Color: Tan Maturity Group: I RelativeMaturity: 1.8 Plant Lodging Score: 6.8 Plant Height (cm): 84 Seed Size(# Seeds/lb.): 2440 Seed Content: Percent Protein: 35.5 Percent Oil:19.7 Physiological Responses: ROUNDUP herbicide resistance to glyphosateherbicides Disease resistance: Phytophthora Root Rot—Rps 1a and SoybeanCyst Nematode—rhg 1

This invention is also directed to methods for producing a soybean plantby crossing a first parent soybean plant with a second parent soybeanplant, wherein the first or second soybean plant is the soybean plantfrom cultivar 85331715. Further, both first and second parent soybeanplants may be from cultivar 85331715. Therefore, any methods usingsoybean cultivar 85331715 are part of this invention: selfing,backcrosses, hybrid breeding, and crosses to populations. Any plantsproduced using soybean cultivar 85331715 as at least one parent arewithin the scope of this invention.

Additional methods include, but are not limited to, expression vectorsintroduced into plant tissues using a direct gene transfer method suchas microprojectile-mediated delivery, DNA injection, electroporation andthe like. More preferably, expression vectors are introduced into planttissues by using either microprojectile-mediated delivery with abiolistic device or by using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.Transformant plants obtained with the protoplasm of the invention areintended to be within the scope of this invention.

Soybean cultivar 85331715 is similar to soybean cultivar AS2002N-103.While similar to soybean cultivar AS2002N-103 there are numerousdifferences including: soybean cultivar 85331715 has the Rps 1a genewhile soybean cultivar AS2002N-103 contains the Rps 1k gene.

Further Embodiments of the Invention

The advent of new molecular biological techniques has allowed theisolation and characterization of genetic elements with specificfunctions, such as encoding specific protein products. Scientists in thefield of plant biology developed a strong interest in engineering thegenome of plants to contain and express foreign genetic elements, oradditional, or modified versions of native or endogenous geneticelements in order to alter the traits of a plant in a specific manner.Any DNA sequences, whether from a different species or from the samespecies, which are introduced into the genome using transformation orvarious breeding methods are referred to herein collectively as“transgenes.” In some embodiments of the invention, a transgenic variantof soybean cultivar 85331715 may contain at least one transgene butcould contain at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and/or no morethan 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2. Over the lastfifteen to twenty years several methods for producing transgenic plantshave been developed, and the present invention also relates totransgenic variants of the claimed soybean variety 85331715.

Nucleic acids or polynucleotides refer to RNA or DNA that is linear orbranched, single or double stranded, or a hybrid thereof. The term alsoencompasses RNA/DNA hybrids. These terms also encompass untranslatedsequence located at both the 3′ and 5′ ends of the coding region of thegene: at least about 1000 nucleotides of sequence upstream from the 5′end of the coding region and at least about 200 nucleotides of sequencedownstream from the 3′ end of the coding region of the gene. Less commonbases, such as inosine, 5-methylcytosine, 6-methyladenine, hypoxanthineand others can also be used for antisense, dsRNA and ribozyme pairing.For example, polynucleotides that contain C-5 propyne analogues ofuridine and cytidine have been shown to bind RNA with high affinity andto be potent antisense inhibitors of gene expression. Othermodifications, such as modification to the phosphodiester backbone, orthe 2′-hydroxy in the ribose sugar group of the RNA can also be made.The antisense polynucleotides and ribozymes can consist entirely ofribonucleotides, or can contain mixed ribonucleotides anddeoxyribonucleotides. The polynucleotides of the invention may beproduced by any means, including genomic preparations, cDNApreparations, in vitro synthesis, RT-PCR and in vitro or in vivotranscription.

One embodiment of the invention is a process for producing soybeanvariety 85331715 further comprising a desired trait, said processcomprising introducing a transgene that confers a desired trait to asoybean plant of variety 85331715. Another embodiment is the productproduced by this process. In one embodiment the desired trait may be oneor more of herbicide resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance,decreased phytate, or modified fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism.The specific gene may be any known in the art or listed herein,including; a polynucleotide conferring resistance to imidazolinone,dicamba, sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate, triazine, benzonitrile,cyclohexanedione, phenoxy proprionic acid and L-phosphinothricin; apolynucleotide encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis polypeptide, apolynucleotide encoding phytase, FAD-2, FAD-3, galactinol synthase or araffinose synthetic enzyme; or a polynucleotide conferring resistance tosoybean cyst nematode, brown stem rot, Phytophthora root rot, soybeanmosaic virus or sudden death syndrome.

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. See, forexample, Miki et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA intoPlants” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick,B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton (1993)) pp.67-88 and Armstrong, “The First Decade of Maize Transformation: A Reviewand Future Perspective” (Maydica 44:101-109 (1999)). In addition,expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plant cell or tissuetransformation and regeneration of plants are available. See, forexample, Gruber et al., “Vectors for Plant Transformation” in Methods inPlant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick, B. R. and Thompson, J.E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton (1993)) pp. 89-119.

A genetic trait which has been engineered into the genome of aparticular soybean plant may then be moved into the genome of anothervariety using traditional breeding techniques that are well known in theplant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach is commonlyused to move a transgene from a transformed soybean variety into analready developed soybean variety, and the resulting backcrossconversion plant would then comprise the transgene(s).

Various genetic elements can be introduced into the plant genome usingtransformation. These elements include, but are not limited to genes,coding sequences, inducible, constitutive, and tissue specificpromoters, enhancing sequences, and signal and targeting sequences. Forexample, see the traits, genes and transformation methods listed in U.S.Pat. No. 6,118,055.

Plant transformation involves the construction of an expression vectorwhich will function in plant cells. Such a vector comprises DNAcomprising a gene under control of, or operatively linked to, aregulatory element (for example, a promoter). The expression vector maycontain one or more such operably linked gene/regulatory elementcombinations. The vector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid and can beused alone or in combination with other plasmids to provide transformedsoybean plants using transformation methods as described below toincorporate transgenes into the genetic material of the soybeanplant(s).

Expression Vectors for Soybean Transformation: Marker Genes

Expression vectors include at least one genetic marker operably linkedto a regulatory element (a promoter, for example) that allowstransformed cells containing the marker to be either recovered bynegative selection, i.e., inhibiting growth of cells that do not containthe selectable marker gene, or by positive selection, i.e., screeningfor the product encoded by the genetic marker. Many commonly usedselectable marker genes for plant transformation are well known in thetransformation arts, and include, for example, genes that code forenzymes that metabolically detoxify a selective chemical agent which maybe an antibiotic or an herbicide, or genes that encode an altered targetwhich is insensitive to the inhibitor. A few positive selection methodsare also known in the art.

One commonly used selectable marker gene for plant transformation is theneomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene which, when under thecontrol of plant regulatory signals, confers resistance to kanamycin.Fraley et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 80:4803 (1983). Anothercommonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin. Vanden Elzen et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 5:299 (1985).

Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to antibiotics include gentamycin acetyl transferase,streptomycin phosphotransferase and aminoglycoside-3′-adenyltransferase, the bleomycin resistance determinant (Hayford et al., PlantPhysiol. 86:1216 (1988); Jones et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 210:86 (1987);Svab et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 14:197 (1990); Hille et al., Plant Mol.Biol. 7:171 (1986)). Other selectable marker genes confer resistance toherbicides such as glyphosate, glufosinate or bromoxynil (Comai et al.,Nature 317:741-744 (1985); Gordon-Kamm et al., Plant Cell 2:603-618(1990); Stalker et al., Science 242:419-423 (1988)).

Selectable marker genes for plant transformation not of bacterial origininclude, for example, mouse dihydrofolate reductase, plant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase and plant acetolactatesynthase (Eichholtz et al., Somatic Cell Mol. Genet. 13:67 (1987); Shahet al., Science 233:478 (1986); Charest et al., Plant Cell Rep. 8:643(1990)).

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation requiresscreening of presumptively transformed plant cells rather than directgenetic selection of transformed cells for resistance to a toxicsubstance such as an antibiotic. These genes are particularly useful toquantify or visualize the spatial pattern of expression of a gene inspecific tissues and are frequently referred to as reporter genesbecause they can be fused to a gene or gene regulatory sequence for theinvestigation of gene expression. Commonly used genes for screeningpresumptively transformed cells include β-glucuronidase (GUS),β-galactosidase, luciferase and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase(Jefferson, R. A., Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 5:387 (1987); Teeri et al.,EMBO J. 8:343 (1989); Koncz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:131(1987); DeBlock et al., EMBO J. 3:1681 (1984)).

In vivo methods for visualizing GUS activity that do not requiredestruction of plant tissue are available (Molecular Probes publication2908, IMAGENE GREEN, pp. 1-4 (1993); Naleway et al., J. Cell Biol.115:151a (1991)). However, these in vivo methods for visualizing GUSactivity have not proven useful for recovery of transformed cellsbecause of low sensitivity, high fluorescent backgrounds and limitationsassociated with the use of luciferase genes as selectable markers.

More recently, a gene encoding Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has beenutilized as a marker for gene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryoticcells (Chalfie et al., Science 263:802 (1994)). GFP and mutants of GFPmay be used as screenable markers.

Expression Vectors for Soybean Transformation: Promoters

Genes included in expression vectors must be driven by a nucleotidesequence comprising a regulatory element, for example, a promoter.Several types of promoters are well known in the transformation arts asare other regulatory elements that can be used alone or in combinationwith promoters.

As used herein, “promoter” includes reference to a region of DNAupstream from the start of transcription and involved in recognition andbinding of RNA polymerase and other proteins to initiate transcription.A “plant promoter” is a promoter capable of initiating transcription inplant cells. Examples of promoters under developmental control includepromoters that preferentially initiate transcription in certain tissues,such as leaves, roots, seeds, fibers, xylem vessels, tracheids, orsclerenchyma. Such promoters are referred to as “tissue-preferred.”Promoters that initiate transcription only in a certain tissue arereferred to as “tissue-specific.” A “cell-type” specific promoterprimarily drives expression in certain cell types in one or more organs,for example, vascular cells in roots or leaves. An “inducible” promoteris a promoter which is under environmental control. Examples ofenvironmental conditions that may effect transcription by induciblepromoters include anaerobic conditions or the presence of light.Tissue-specific, tissue-preferred, cell type specific, and induciblepromoters constitute the class of “non-constitutive” promoters. A“constitutive” promoter is a promoter that is active under mostenvironmental conditions.

A. Inducible Promoters—An inducible promoter is operably linked to agene for expression in soybean. Optionally, the inducible promoter isoperably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequencewhich is operably linked to a gene for expression in soybean. With aninducible promoter the rate of transcription increases in response to aninducing agent.

Any inducible promoter can be used in the instant invention. See, Wardet al., Plant Mol. Biol. 22:361-366 (1993). Exemplary induciblepromoters include, but are not limited to, that from the ACEI systemwhich responds to copper (Mett et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA90:4567-4571 (1993)); In2 gene from maize which responds tobenzenesulfonamide herbicide safeners (Hershey et al., Mol. Gen.Genetics 227:229-237 (1991); Gatz et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics 243:32-38(1994)) or Tet repressor from Tn10 (Gatz et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics227:229-237 (1991)). A particularly preferred inducible promoter is apromoter that responds to an inducing agent to which plants do notnormally respond. An exemplary inducible promoter is the induciblepromoter from a steroid hormone gene, the transcriptional activity ofwhich is induced by a glucocorticosteroid hormone (Schena et al., Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:0421 (1991)).

B. Constitutive Promoters—A constitutive promoter is operably linked toa gene for expression in soybean or the constitutive promoter isoperably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequencewhich is operably linked to a gene for expression in soybean.

Many different constitutive promoters can be utilized in the instantinvention. Exemplary constitutive promoters include, but are not limitedto, the promoters from plant viruses such as the 35S promoter from CaMV(Odell et al., Nature 313:810-812 (1985)) and the promoters from suchgenes as rice actin (McElroy et al., Plant Cell 2: 163-171 (1990));ubiquitin (Christensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 12:619-632 (1989);Christensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 18:675-689 (1992)); PEMU (Last etal., Theor. Appl. Genet. 81:581-588 (1991)); MAS (Velten et al., EMBO J.3:2723-2730 (1984)) and maize H3 histone (Lepetit et al., Mol. Gen.Genetics 231:276-285 (1992); Atanassova et al., Plant Journal 2 (3):291-300 (1992)). The ALS promoter, Xba1/NcoI fragment 5′ to the Brassicanapus ALS3 structural gene (or a nucleotide sequence similarity to saidXba1/NcoI fragment), represents a particularly useful constitutivepromoter. See, PCT Application WO 96/30530.

C. Tissue-specific or Tissue-preferred Promoters—A tissue-specificpromoter is operably linked to a gene for expression in soybean.Optionally, the tissue-specific promoter is operably linked to anucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence which is operably linkedto a gene for expression in soybean. Plants transformed with a gene ofinterest operably linked to a tissue-specific promoter produce theprotein product of the transgene exclusively, or preferentially, in aspecific tissue.

Any tissue-specific or tissue-preferred promoter can be utilized in theinstant invention. Exemplary tissue-specific or tissue-preferredpromoters include, but are not limited to, a root-preferred promotersuch as that from the phaseolin gene (Murai et al., Science 23:476-482(1983); Sengupta-Gopalan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:3320-3324(1985)); a leaf-specific and light-induced promoter such as that fromcab or rubisco (Simpson et al., EMBO J. 4(11):2723-2729 (1985); Timko etal., Nature 318:579-582 (1985)); an anther-specific promoter such asthat from LAT52 (Twell et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics 217:240-245 (1989)); apollen-specific promoter such as that from Zm13 (Guerrero et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics 244:161-168 (1993)) or a microspore-preferred promotersuch as that from apg (Twell et al., Sex. Plant Reprod. 6:217-224(1993)).

Signal Sequences for Targeting Proteins to Subcellular Compartments

Transport of a protein produced by transgenes to a subcellularcompartment such as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome,cell wall or mitochondrion or for secretion into the apoplast, isaccomplished by means of operably linking the nucleotide sequenceencoding a signal sequence to the 5′ and/or 3′ region of a gene encodingthe protein of interest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ and/or 3′ end ofthe structural gene may determine during protein synthesis andprocessing where the encoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized.

The presence of a signal sequence directs a polypeptide to either anintracellular organelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion tothe apoplast. Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, forexample, Becker et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 20:49 (1992); Knox, C., et al.,Plant Mol. Biol. 9:3-17 (1987); Lerner et al., Plant Physiol. 91:124-129(1989); Frontes et al., Plant Cell 3:483-496 (1991); Matsuoka et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88:834 (1991); Gould et al., J. Cell. Biol.108:1657 (1989); Creissen et al., Plant J. 2:129 (1991); Kalderon etal., Cell 39:499-509 (1984); Steifel et al., Plant Cell 2:785-793(1990).

Foreign Protein Genes and Agronomic Genes

With transgenic plants according to the present invention, a foreignprotein can be produced in commercial quantities. Thus, techniques forthe selection and propagation of transformed plants, which are wellunderstood in the art, yield a plurality of transgenic plants which areharvested in a conventional manner, and a foreign protein then can beextracted from a tissue of interest or from total biomass. Proteinextraction from plant biomass can be accomplished by known methods whichare discussed, for example, by Heney and Orr, Anal. Biochem. 114:92-6(1981).

According to a preferred embodiment, the transgenic plant provided forcommercial production of foreign protein is a soybean plant. In anotherpreferred embodiment, the biomass of interest is seed. For therelatively small number of transgenic plants that show higher levels ofexpression, a genetic map can be generated, primarily via conventionalRFLP, PCR and SSR analysis, which identifies the approximate chromosomallocation of the integrated DNA molecule. For exemplary methodologies inthis regard, see, Glick and Thompson, Methods in Plant Molecular Biologyand Biotechnology, CRC Press, Boca Raton 269:284 (1993). Map informationconcerning chromosomal location is useful for proprietary protection ofa subject transgenic plant.

Wang et al. discuss “Large Scale Identification, Mapping and Genotypingof Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Human Genome” Science,280:1077-1082, 1998, and similar capabilities are becoming increasinglyavailable for the soybean genome. Map information concerning chromosomallocation is useful for proprietary protection of a subject transgenicplant. If unauthorized propagation is undertaken and crosses made withother germplasm, the map of the integration region can be compared tosimilar maps for suspect plants to determine if the latter have a commonparentage with the subject plant. Map comparisons would involvehybridizations, RFLP, PCR, SSR and sequencing, all of which areconventional techniques. SNPs may also be used alone or in combinationwith other techniques.

Likewise, by means of the present invention, plants can be geneticallyengineered to express various phenotypes of agronomic interest. Throughthe transformation of soybean the expression of genes can be altered toenhance disease resistance, insect resistance, herbicide resistance,agronomic, grain quality and other traits. Transformation can also beused to insert DNA sequences which control or help controlmale-sterility. DNA sequences native to soybean as well as non-nativeDNA sequences can be transformed into soybean and used to alter levelsof native or non-native proteins. Various promoters, targetingsequences, enhancing sequences, and other DNA sequences can be insertedinto the genome for the purpose of altering the expression of proteins.Reduction of the activity of specific genes (also known as genesilencing, or gene suppression) is desirable for several aspects ofgenetic engineering in plants.

Many techniques for gene silencing are well known to one of skill in theart, including but not limited to knock-outs (such as by insertion of atransposable element such as mu (Vicki Chandler, The Maize Handbook, ch.118 (Springer-Verlag 1994)) or other genetic elements such as a FRT, Loxor other site specific integration site, antisense technology (see,e.g., Sheehy et al., PNAS USA 85:8805-8809 (1988); and U.S. Pat. Nos.5,107,065; 5,453,566; and 5,759,829); co-suppression (e.g., Taylor,Plant Cell 9:1245 (1997); Jorgensen, Trends Biotech. 8(12):340-344(1990); Flavell, PNAS USA 91:3490-3496 (1994); Finnegan et al.,Bio/Technology 12: 883-888 (1994); Neuhuber et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.244:230-241 (1994)); RNA interference (Napoli et al., Plant Cell2:279-289 (1990); U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,323; Sharp, Genes Dev. 13:139-141(1999); Zamore et al., Cell 101:25-33 (2000); Montgomery et al., PNASUSA 95:15502-15507 (1998)), virus-induced gene silencing (Burton et al.,Plant Cell 12:691-705 (2000); Baulcombe, Curr. Op. Plant Bio. 2:109-113(1999)); target-RNA-specific ribozymes (Haseloff et al., Nature 334:585-591 (1988)); hairpin structures (Smith et al., Nature 407:319-320(2000); WO 99/53050; WO 98/53083); MicroRNA (Aukerman & Sakai, PlantCell 15:2730-2741 (2003)); ribozymes (Steinecke et al., EMBO J. 11:1525(1992); Perriman et al., Antisense Res. Dev. 3:253 (1993));oligonucleotide mediated targeted modification (e.g., WO 03/076574 andWO 99/25853); Zn-finger targeted molecules (e.g., WO 01/52620; WO03/048345; and WO 00/42219); and other methods or combinations of theabove methods known to those of skill in the art.

Likewise, by means of the present invention, agronomic genes can beexpressed in transformed plants. More particularly, plants can begenetically engineered to express various phenotypes of agronomicinterest. Exemplary genes implicated in this regard include, but are notlimited to, those categorized below:

1. Genes that Confer Resistance to Pests or Disease and that Encode:

A. Plant disease resistance genes. Plant defenses are often activated byspecific interaction between the product of a disease resistance gene(R) in the plant and the product of a corresponding avirulence (Avr)gene in the pathogen. A plant variety can be transformed with one ormore cloned resistance genes to engineer plants that are resistant tospecific pathogen strains. See, for example, Jones et al., Science266:789 (1994) (cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistance toCladosporium fulvum); Martin et al., Science 262:1432 (1993) (tomato Ptogene for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato encodes a proteinkinase); Mindrinos et al., Cell 78:1089 (1994) (Arabidopsis RSP2 genefor resistance to Pseudomonas syringae); McDowell & Woffenden, TrendsBiotechnol. 21(4): 178-83 (2003); and Toyoda et al., Transgenic Res. 11(6):567-82 (2002).

B. A gene conferring resistance to a pest, such as soybean cystnematode. See, e.g., PCT Application WO 96/30517; PCT Application WO93/19181.

C. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof or a syntheticpolypeptide modeled thereon. See, for example, Geiser et al., Gene48:109 (1986), who disclose the cloning and nucleotide sequence of a Btδ-endotoxin gene. Moreover, DNA molecules encoding δ-endotoxin genes canbe purchased from American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., forexample, under ATCC Accession Nos. 40098, 67136, 31995, and 31998.

D. A lectin. See, for example, Van Damme et al., Plant Molec. Biol.24:25 (1994), who disclose the nucleotide sequences of several Cliviaminiata mannose-binding lectin genes.

E. A vitamin-binding protein such as avidin. See, PCT Application US93/06487 which teaches the use of avidin and avidin homologues aslarvicides against insect pests.

F. An enzyme inhibitor, for example, a protease or proteinase inhibitoror an amylase inhibitor. See, for example, Abe et al., J. Biol. Chem.262:16793 (1987) (nucleotide sequence of rice cysteine proteinaseinhibitor); Huub et al., Plant Molec. Biol. 21:985 (1993) (nucleotidesequence of cDNA encoding tobacco proteinase inhibitor I); Sumitani etal., Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 57:1243 (1993) (nucleotide sequence ofStreptomyces nitrosporeus α-amylase inhibitor); and U.S. Pat. No.5,494,813 (Hepher and Atkinson, issued Feb. 27, 1996).

G. An insect-specific hormone or pheromone such as an ecdysteroid orjuvenile hormone, a variant thereof, a mimetic based thereon, or anantagonist or agonist thereof. See, for example, the disclosure byHammock et al., Nature 344:458 (1990), of baculovirus expression ofcloned juvenile hormone esterase, an inactivator of juvenile hormone.

H. An insect-specific peptide or neuropeptide which, upon expression,disrupts the physiology of the affected pest. For example, see thedisclosures of Regan, J. Biol. Chem. 269:9 (1994) (expression cloningyields DNA coding for insect diuretic hormone receptor); Pratt et al.,Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 163:1243 (1989) (an allostatin isidentified in Diploptera puntata); Chattopadhyay et al., CriticalReviews in Microbiology 30 (1): 33-54 (2004); Zjawiony, J Nat Prod 67(2): 300-310 (2004); Carlini & Grossi-de-Sa, Toxicon, 40 (11): 1515-1539(2002); Ussuf et al., Curr Sci. 80 (7): 847-853 (2001); Vasconcelos &Oliveira, Toxicon 44 (4): 385-403 (2004). See also, U.S. Pat. No.5,266,317 to Tomalski et al., which discloses genes encodinginsect-specific, paralytic neurotoxins.

I. An insect-specific venom produced in nature by a snake, a wasp, etc.For example, see, Pang et al., Gene 116:165 (1992), for disclosure ofheterologous expression in plants of a gene coding for a scorpioninsectotoxic peptide.

J. An enzyme responsible for a hyperaccumulation of a monoterpene, asesquiterpene, a steroid, hydroxamic acid, a phenylpropanoid derivativeor another non-protein molecule with insecticidal activity.

K. An enzyme involved in the modification, including thepost-translational modification, of a biologically active molecule; forexample, a glycolytic enzyme, a proteolytic enzyme, a lipolytic enzyme,a nuclease, a cyclase, a transaminase, an esterase, a hydrolase, aphosphatase, a kinase, a phosphorylase, a polymerase, an elastase, achitinase and a glucanase, whether natural or synthetic. See, PCTApplication WO 93/02197 (Scott et al.), which discloses the nucleotidesequence of a callase gene. DNA molecules which containchitinase-encoding sequences can be obtained, for example, from the ATCCunder Accession Nos. 39637 and 67152. See also, Kramer et al., InsectBiochem. Molec. Biol. 23:691 (1993), who teach the nucleotide sequenceof a cDNA encoding tobacco hornworm chitinase, and Kawalleck et al.,Plant Molec. Biol. 21:673 (1993), who provide the nucleotide sequence ofthe parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitin gene, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,145,060,7,087,810, and 6,563,020.

L. A molecule that stimulates signal transduction. For example, see thedisclosure by Botella et al., Plant Molec. Biol. 24:757 (1994), ofnucleotide sequences for mung bean calmodulin cDNA clones, and Griess etal., Plant Physiol. 104:1467 (1994), who provide the nucleotide sequenceof a maize calmodulin cDNA clone.

M. A hydrophobic moment peptide. See, PCT Application WO 95/16776 andU.S. Pat. No. 5,580,852, which disclose peptide derivatives oftachyplesin which inhibit fungal plant pathogens, and PCT Application WO95/18855 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,914 which teaches syntheticantimicrobial peptides that confer disease resistance.

N. A membrane permease, a channel former or a channel blocker. Forexample, see the disclosure of Jaynes et al., Plant Sci 89:43 (1993), ofheterologous expression of a cecropin-β lytic peptide analog to rendertransgenic tobacco plants resistant to Pseudomonas solanacearum.

O. A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived therefrom. Forexample, the accumulation of viral coat proteins in transformed plantcells imparts resistance to viral infection and/or disease developmenteffected by the virus from which the coat protein gene is derived, aswell as by related viruses. See, Beachy et al., Ann. Rev. Phytopathol.28:451 (1990). Coat protein-mediated resistance has been conferred upontransformed plants against alfalfa mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virusand tobacco mosaic virus.

P. An insect-specific antibody or an immunotoxin derived therefrom.Thus, an antibody targeted to a critical metabolic function in theinsect gut would inactivate an affected enzyme, killing the insect. See,Taylor et al., Abstract # 497, Seventh Int'l Symposium on MolecularPlant-Microbe Interactions (Edinburgh, Scotland) (1994) (enzymaticinactivation in transgenic tobacco via production of single-chainantibody fragments).

Q. A virus-specific antibody. See, for example, Tavladoraki et al.,Nature 366:469 (1993), who show that transgenic plants expressingrecombinant antibody genes are protected from virus attack.

R. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a pathogen ora parasite. Thus, fungal endo-α-1,4-D-polygalacturonases facilitatefungal colonization and plant nutrient release by solubilizing plantcell wall homo-α-1,4-D-galacturonase. See, Lamb et al., Bio/Technology10:1436 (1992). The cloning and characterization of a gene which encodesa bean endopolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein is described by Toubartet al., Plant J. 2:367 (1992).

S. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a plant. Forexample, Logemann et al., Bio/Technology 10:305 (1992), have shown thattransgenic plants expressing the barley ribosome-inactivating gene havean increased resistance to fungal disease.

T. Genes involved in the Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) Responseand/or the pathogenesis-related genes. Briggs, S., Current Biology, 5(2)(1995); Pieterse & Van Loon, Curr. Opin. Plant Bio. 7(4):456-64 (2004);and Somssich, Cell 113(7):815-6 (2003).

U. Antifungal genes. See, Cornelissen and Melchers, Plant Physiol.,101:709-712 (1993); Parijs et al., Planta 183:258-264 (1991); andBushnell et al., Can. J of Plant Path. 20(2):137-149 (1998). See also,U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,907.

V. Detoxification genes, such as for fumonisin, beauvericin,moniliformin and zearalenone and their structurally related derivatives.For example, see, U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,931.

W. Cystatin and cysteine proteinase inhibitors. See, U.S. Pat. No.7,205,453.

X. Defensin genes. See, WO 03/000863 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,577.

Y. Genes conferring resistance to nematodes, and in particular soybeancyst nematodes. See, e.g., PCT Application WO 96/30517; PCT ApplicationWO 93/19181; WO 03/033651; Urwin et al., Planta 204:472-479 (1998);Williamson, Curr Opin Plant Bio. 2(4):327-31 (1999).

Z. Genes that confer resistance to Phytophthora Root Rot, such as theRps 1, Rps 1-a, Rps 1-b, Rps 1-c, Rps 1-d, Rps 1-e, Rps 1-k, Rps 2, Rps3-a, Rps 3-b, Rps 3-c, Rps 4, Rps 5, Rps 6, Rps 7 and other Rps genes.See, for example, Shoemaker et al., Phytophthora Root Rot ResistanceGene Mapping in Soybean, Plant Genome IV Conference, San Diego, Calif.(1995).

AA. Genes that confer resistance to Brown Stem Rot, such as described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,689,035 and incorporated by reference for this purpose.

Any of the above listed disease or pest resistance genes (A-AA) can beintroduced into the claimed soybean cultivar through a variety of meansincluding but not limited to transformation and crossing.

2. Genes that Confer Resistance to an Herbicide, for Example:

A. An herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem, such as animidazolinone or a sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes in this category codefor mutant ALS and AHAS enzyme as described, for example, by Lee et al.,EMBO J. 7:1241 (1988) and Miki et al., Theor. Appl. Genet. 80:449(1990), respectively.

B. Glyphosate (resistance conferred by mutant5-enolpyruvlshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and aroA genes,respectively) and other phosphono compounds such as glufosinate(phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT) and Streptomyceshygroscopicus PAT bar genes), and pyridinoxy or phenoxy proprionic acidsand cyclohexanediones (ACCase inhibitor-encoding genes). See, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835 to Shah et al., which discloses thenucleotide sequence of a form of EPSPS which can confer glyphosateresistance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,061 to Barry et al. also describes genesencoding EPSPS enzymes. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,566,587; 6,338,961;6,248,876; 6,040,497; 5,804,425; 5,633,435; 5,145,783; 4,971,908;5,312,910; 5,188,642; 4,940,835; 5,866,775; 6,225,114; 6,130,366;5,310,667; 4,535,060; 4,769,061; 5,633,448; 5,510,471; RE 36,449; RE37,287; and 5,491,288; and International Publications EP1173580; WO01/66704; EP1173581; and EP1173582, which are incorporated herein byreference for this purpose. Glyphosate resistance is also imparted toplants that express a gene that encodes a glyphosate oxido-reductaseenzyme as described more fully in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,776,760 and5,463,175, which are incorporated herein by reference for this purpose.In addition glyphosate resistance can be imparted to plants by the overexpression of genes encoding glyphosate N-acetyltransferase. See, forexample, U.S. application Ser. No. 10/427,692. A DNA molecule encoding amutant aroA gene can be obtained under ATCC accession number 39256, andthe nucleotide sequence of the mutant gene is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,769,061 to Comai. European Patent Appl. No. 0 333 033 to Kumada et al.and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,374 to Goodman et al. disclose nucleotidesequences of glutamine synthetase genes which confer resistance toherbicides such as L-phosphinothricin. The nucleotide sequence of a PATgene is provided in European Patent Appl. No. 0 242 246 to Leemans etal. DeGreef et al., Bio/Technology 7:61 (1989) describe the productionof transgenic plants that express chimeric bar genes coding forphosphinothricin acetyl transferase activity. Exemplary of genesconferring resistance to phenoxy proprionic acids and cyclohexones, suchas sethoxydim and haloxyfop are the Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2, and Acc2-S3 genesdescribed by Marshall et al., Theor. Appl. Genet. 83:435 (1992).

C. An herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, such as a triazine (psbAand gs+ genes) and a benzonitrile (nitrilase gene). Przibila et al.,Plant Cell 3:169 (1991), describe the transformation of Chlamydomonaswith plasmids encoding mutant psbA genes. Nucleotide sequences fornitrilase genes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 to Stalker andDNA molecules containing these genes are available under ATCC AccessionNos. 53435, 67441, and 67442. Cloning and expression of DNA coding for aglutathione S-transferase is described by Hayes et al., Biochem. J.285:173 (1992).

D. Acetohydroxy acid synthase, which has been found to make plants thatexpress this enzyme resistant to multiple types of herbicides, has beenintroduced into a variety of plants. See, Hattori et al., Mol. Gen.Genet. 246:419 (1995). Other genes that confer tolerance to herbicidesinclude a gene encoding a chimeric protein of rat cytochrome P4507A1 andyeast NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (Shiota et al., PlantPhysiol., 106:17 (1994), genes for glutathione reductase and superoxidedismutase (Aono et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 36:1687 (1995), and genesfor various phosphotransferases (Datta et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 20:619(1992).

E. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (protox) is necessary for the productionof chlorophyll, which is necessary for all plant survival. The protoxenzyme serves as the target for a variety of herbicidal compounds. Theseherbicides also inhibit growth of all the different species of plantspresent, causing their total destruction. The development of plantscontaining altered protox activity which are resistant to theseherbicides are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,288,306; 6,282,837;5,767,373; and International Publication WO 01/12825.

Any of the above listed herbicide genes (A-E) can be introduced into theclaimed soybean cultivar through a variety of means including but notlimited to transformation and crossing.

3. Genes that Confer or Contribute to a Value-Added Trait, Such as:

A. Modified fatty acid metabolism, for example, by transforming a plantwith an antisense gene of stearyl-ACP desaturase to increase stearicacid content of the plant. See, Knultzon et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA 89:2625 (1992).

B. Decreased phytate content—1) Introduction of a phytase-encoding geneenhances breakdown of phytate, adding more free phosphate to thetransformed plant. For example, see, Van Hartingsveldt et al., Gene127:87 (1993), for a disclosure of the nucleotide sequence of anAspergillus niger phytase gene. 2) Up-regulation of a gene that reducesphytate content. In maize, this, for example, could be accomplished, bycloning and then re-introducing DNA associated with one or more of thealleles, such as the LPA alleles, identified in maize mutantscharacterized by low levels of phytic acid, such as in Raboy et al.,Maydica 35: 383 (1990) and/or by altering inositol kinase activity as inWO 02/059324; U.S. Publ. No. 2003/000901; WO 03/027243; U.S. Publ. No.2003/0079247; WO 99/05298; U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,561; U.S. Pat. No.6,291,224; U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,348; WO 2002/059324; U.S. Publ. No.2003/0079247; WO 98/45448; W 099/55882; WO 01/04147.

C. Modified carbohydrate composition effected, for example, bytransforming plants with a gene coding for an enzyme that alters thebranching pattern of starch, or, a gene altering thioredoxin such as NTRand/or TRX (see, U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,648 which is incorporated byreference for this purpose) and/or a gamma zein knock out or mutant suchas cs27 or TUSC27 or en27 (see, U.S. Pat. No. 6,858,778; U.S. Publ. No.2005/0160488; U.S. Publ. No. 2005/0204418 which are incorporated byreference for this purpose). See, Shiroza et al., J. Bacteriol. 170: 810(1988) (nucleotide sequence of Streptococcus mutans fructosyltransferasegene); Steinmetz et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 200: 220 (1985) (nucleotidesequence of Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene); Pen et al.,Bio/Technology 10: 292 (1992) (production of transgenic plants thatexpress Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase); Elliot et al., PlantMolec. Biol. 21: 515 (1993) (nucleotide sequences of tomato invertasegenes); Sogaard et al., J. Biol. Chem. 268: 22480 (1993) (site-directedmutagenesis of barley alpha-amylase gene); Fisher et al., Plant Physiol.102: 1045 (1993) (maize endosperm starch branching enzyme II); WO99/10498 (improved digestibility and/or starch extraction throughmodification of UDP-D-xylose 4-epimerase, Fragile 1 and 2, Ref 1, HCHL,C4H); U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,529 (method of producing high oil seed bymodification of starch levels (AGP)). The fatty acid modification genesmentioned above may also be used to affect starch content and/orcomposition through the interrelationship of the starch and oilpathways.

D. Elevated oleic acid via FAD-2 gene modification and/or decreasedlinolenic acid via FAD-3 gene modification. See, U.S. Pat. Nos.6,063,947; 6,323,392; and International Publication WO 93/11245.Linolenic acid is one of the five most abundant fatty acids in soybeanseeds. The low oxidative stability of linolenic acid is one reason thatsoybean oil undergoes partial hydrogenation. When partiallyhydrogenated, all unsaturated fatty acids form trans fats. Soybeans arethe largest source of edible-oils in the U.S. and 40% of soybean oilproduction is partially hydrogenated. The consumption of trans fatsincreases the risk of heart disease. Regulations banning trans fats haveencouraged the development of low linolenic soybeans. Soybeanscontaining low linolenic acid percentages create a more stable oilrequiring hydrogenation less often. This provides trans fat freealternatives in products such as cooking oil.

E. Altering conjugated linolenic or linoleic acid content, such as in WO01/12800. Altering LEC1, AGP, Dek1, Superal1, mi1ps, various Ipa genessuch as Ipa1, Ipa3, hpt or hggt. For example, see, WO 02/42424; WO98/22604; WO 03/011015; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,886; 6,197,561; 6,825,397;7,157,621; U.S. Publ. No. 2003/0079247; WO 02/057439; WO 03/011015; andRivera-Madrid, R. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 92:5620-5624 (1995).

F. Altered antioxidant content or composition, such as alteration oftocopherol or tocotrienols. For example, see, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,787,683;7,154,029; WO 00/68393 (involving the manipulation of antioxidant levelsthrough alteration of a phytl prenyl transferase (ppt)); WO 03/082899(through alteration of a homogentisate geranyl geranyl transferase(hggt)).

G. Altered essential seed amino acids. For example, see, U.S. Pat. No.6,127,600 (method of increasing accumulation of essential amino acids inseeds); U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,913 (binary methods of increasingaccumulation of essential amino acids in seeds); U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,389(high lysine); WO 99/40209 (alteration of amino acid compositions inseeds); WO 99/29882 (methods for altering amino acid content ofproteins); U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,016 (alteration of amino acidcompositions in seeds); WO 98/20133 (proteins with enhanced levels ofessential amino acids); U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,802 (high methionine); U.S.Pat. No. 5,885,801 (high threonine); U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,445 (plantamino acid biosynthetic enzymes); U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,019 (increasedlysine and threonine); U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,274 (plant tryptophansynthase beta subunit); U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,403 (methionine metabolicenzymes); U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,599 (high sulfur); U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,414(increased methionine); WO 98/56935 (plant amino acid biosyntheticenzymes); WO 98/45458 (engineered seed protein having higher percentageof essential amino acids); WO 98/42831 (increased lysine); U.S. Pat. No.5,633,436 (increasing sulfur amino acid content); U.S. Pat. No.5,559,223 (synthetic storage proteins with defined structure containingprogrammable levels of essential amino acids for improvement of thenutritional value of plants); WO 96/01905 (increased threonine); WO95/15392 (increased lysine); U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,930,225; 7,179,955, U.S.Publ. No. 2004/0068767; U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,498; WO 01/79516; WO00/09706 (Ces A: cellulose synthase); U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,638(hemicellulose); U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,859; U.S. Pat. No. 7,098,381(UDPGdH); U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,638 (RGP).

4. Genes that Control Male Sterility:

There are several methods of conferring genetic male sterilityavailable, such as multiple mutant genes at separate locations withinthe genome that confer male sterility, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,654,465 and 4,727,219 to Brar et al. and chromosomal translocations asdescribed by Patterson in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,861,709 and 3,710,511. Inaddition to these methods, Albertsen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,068,describe a system of nuclear male sterility which includes: identifyinga gene which is critical to male fertility; silencing this native genewhich is critical to male fertility; removing the native promoter fromthe essential male fertility gene and replacing it with an induciblepromoter; inserting this genetically engineered gene back into theplant; and thus creating a plant that is male sterile because theinducible promoter is not “on” resulting in the male fertility gene notbeing transcribed. Fertility is restored by inducing, or turning “on,”the promoter, which in turn allows the gene that confers male fertilityto be transcribed.

A. Introduction of a deacetylase gene under the control of atapetum-specific promoter and with the application of the chemicalN-Ac-PPT. See, International Publication WO 01/29237.

B. Introduction of various stamen-specific promoters. See, InternationalPublications WO 92/13956 and WO 92/13957.

C. Introduction of the barnase and the barstar genes. See, Paul et al.,Plant Mol. Biol. 19:611-622 (1992).

For additional examples of nuclear male and female sterility systems andgenes, see also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,859,341; 6,297,426; 5,478,369;5,824,524; 5,850,014; and 6,265,640; all of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

5. Genes that Create a Site for Site Specific DNA Integration:

This includes the introduction of FRT sites that may be used in theFLP/FRT system and/or Lox sites that may be used in the Cre/Loxp system.For example, see, Lyznik et al., Site-Specific Recombination for GeneticEngineering in Plants, Plant Cell Rep 21:925-932 (2003) and WO 99/25821,which are hereby incorporated by reference. Other systems that may beused include the Gin recombinase of phage Mu (Maeser et al., 1991; VickiChandler, The Maize Handbook, ch. 118 (Springer-Verlag 1994), the Pinrecombinase of E. coli (Enomoto et al., 1983), and the R/RS system ofthe pSR1 plasmid (Araki et al., 1992).

6. Genes that Affect Abiotic Stress Resistance:

Genes that affect abiotic stress resistance (including but not limitedto flowering, pod and seed development, enhancement of nitrogenutilization efficiency, altered nitrogen responsiveness, droughtresistance or tolerance, cold resistance or tolerance, and saltresistance or tolerance) and increased yield under stress. For example,see: WO 00/73475 where water use efficiency is altered throughalteration of malate; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,892,009; 5,965,705; 5,929,305;5,891,859; 6,417,428; 6,664,446; 6,706,866; 6,717,034; 6,801,104; WO2000/060089; WO 2001/026459; WO 2001/035725; WO 2001/034726; WO2001/035727; WO 2001/036444; WO 2001/036597; WO 2001/036598; WO2002/015675; WO 2002/017430; WO 2002/077185; WO 2002/079403; WO2003/013227; WO 2003/013228; WO 2003/014327; WO 2004/031349; WO2004/076638; WO 98/09521; and WO 99/38977 describing genes, includingCBF genes and transcription factors effective in mitigating the negativeeffects of freezing, high salinity, and drought on plants, as well asconferring other positive effects on plant phenotype; U.S. Publ. No.2004/0148654 and WO 01/36596 where abscisic acid is altered in plantsresulting in improved plant phenotype such as increased yield and/orincreased tolerance to abiotic stress; WO 2000/006341; WO 04/090143;U.S. application Ser. No. 10/817,483; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,237 wherecytokinin expression is modified resulting in plants with increasedstress tolerance, such as drought tolerance, and/or increased yield. Seealso, WO 02/02776; WO 2003/052063; JP 2002281975; U.S. Pat. No.6,084,153; WO 01/64898; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,177,275 and 6,107,547(enhancement of nitrogen utilization and altered nitrogenresponsiveness). For ethylene alteration, see, U.S. Publ. Nos.2004/0128719; 2003/0166197; and WO 2000/32761. For plant transcriptionfactors or transcriptional regulators of abiotic stress, see, e.g., U.S.Publ. No. 2004/0098764 or U.S. Publ. No. 2004/0078852.

Other genes and transcription factors that affect plant growth andagronomic traits such as yield, flowering, plant growth and/or plantstructure, can be introduced or introgressed into plants, see, e.g., WO97/49811 (LHY); WO 98/56918 (ESD4); WO 97/10339; U.S. Pat. Nos.6,573,430 (TFL); 6,713,663 (FT); WO 96/14414 (CON); WO 96/38560; WO01/21822 (VRN1); WO 00/44918 (VRN2); WO 99/49064 (GI); WO 00/46358(FRI); WO 97/29123; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,794,560; 6,307,126 (GAI); WO99/09174 (D8 and Rht); WO 2004/076638; and WO 004/031349 (transcriptionfactors).

Methods for Soybean Transformation

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. See, forexample, Miki et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA intoPlants” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick,B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc. Boca Raton (1993)) pp.67-88. In addition, expression vectors and in-vitro culture methods forplant cell or tissue transformation and regeneration of plants areavailable. See, for example, Gruber et al., “Vectors for PlantTransformation” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology,Glick, B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton(1993)) pp. 89-119.

A. Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation—One method for introducing anexpression vector into plants is based on the natural transformationsystem of Agrobacterium. See, for example, Horsch et al., Science227:1229 (1985). A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are plant pathogenicsoil bacteria which genetically transform plant cells. The Ti and Riplasmids of A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes, respectively, carry genesresponsible for genetic transformation of the plant. See, for example,Kado, C. I., Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 10:1 (1991). Descriptions ofAgrobacterium vector systems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer are provided by Gruber et al., supra, Miki et al., supra, andMoloney et al., Plant Cell Reports 8:238 (1989). See also, U.S. Pat. No.5,563,055 (Townsend and Thomas), issued Oct. 8, 1996.

B. Direct Gene Transfer—Several methods of plant transformation,collectively referred to as direct gene transfer, have been developed asan alternative to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A generallyapplicable method of plant transformation is microprojectile-mediatedtransformation where DNA is carried on the surface of microprojectilesmeasuring 1 to 4 μm. The expression vector is introduced into planttissues with a biolistic device that accelerates the microprojectiles tospeeds of 300 to 600 m/s which is sufficient to penetrate plant cellwalls and membranes. Sanford et al., Part. Sci. Technol. 5:27 (1987);Sanford, J. C., Trends Biotech. 6:299 (1988); Klein et al., Bio/Tech.6:559-563 (1988); Sanford, J. C. Physiol Plant 7:206 (1990); Klein etal., Biotechnology 10:268 (1992). See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,580(Christou et al.), issued May 14, 1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,783(Tomes et al.), issued Jun. 21, 1994.

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication oftarget cells. Zhang et al., Bio/Technology 9:996 (1991). Alternatively,liposome and spheroplast fusion have been used to introduce expressionvectors into plants. Deshayes et al., EMBO J., 4:2731 (1985); Christouet al., Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:3962 (1987). Direct uptake of DNAinto protoplasts using CaCl₂ precipitation, polyvinyl alcohol orpoly-L-ornithine have also been reported. Hain et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.199:161 (1985) and Draper et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 23:451 (1982).Electroporation of protoplasts and whole cells and tissues have alsobeen described (Donn et al., In Abstracts of VIIth InternationalCongress on Plant Cell and Tissue Culture IAPTC, A2-38, p 53 (1990);D'Halluin et al., Plant Cell 4:1495-1505 (1992); and Spencer et al.,Plant Mol. Biol. 24:51-61 (1994)).

Following transformation of soybean target tissues, expression of theabove-described selectable marker genes allows for preferentialselection of transformed cells, tissues and/or plants, usingregeneration and selection methods well known in the art.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used forproducing a transgenic variety. The transgenic variety could then becrossed with another (non-transformed or transformed) variety in orderto produce a new transgenic variety. Alternatively, a genetic trait thathas been engineered into a particular soybean line using the foregoingtransformation techniques could be moved into another line usingtraditional backcrossing techniques that are well known in the plantbreeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach could be used tomove an engineered trait from a public, non-elite variety into an elitevariety, or from a variety containing a foreign gene in its genome intoa variety or varieties that do not contain that gene. As used herein,“crossing” can refer to a simple X by Y cross or the process ofbackcrossing depending on the context.

Genetic Marker Profile Through SSR and First Generation Progeny

In addition to phenotypic observations, a plant can also be identifiedby its genotype. The genotype of a plant can be characterized through agenetic marker profile which can identify plants of the same variety ora related variety or be used to determine or validate a pedigree.Genetic marker profiles can be obtained by techniques such asRestriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms(AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) which are also referred to asMicrosatellites, and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). Forexample, see, Cregan et al., “An Integrated Genetic Linkage Map of theSoybean Genome” Crop Science 39:1464-1490 (1999) and Berry et al.,“Assessing Probability of Ancestry Using Simple Sequence RepeatProfiles: Applications to Maize Inbred Lines and Soybean Varieties”Genetics 165:331-342 (2003), each of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

Particular markers used for these purposes are not limited to anyparticular set of markers, but are envisioned to include any type ofmarker and marker profile which provides a means of distinguishingvarieties. One method of comparison is to use only homozygous loci forsoybean cultivar 85331715.

Primers and PCR protocols for assaying these and other markers aredisclosed in the Soybase (sponsored by the USDA Agricultural ResearchService and Iowa State University). In addition to being used foridentification of soybean variety 85331715 and plant parts and plantcells of variety 85331715, the genetic profile may be used to identify asoybean plant produced through the use of soybean cultivar 85331715 orto verify a pedigree for progeny plants produced through the use ofsoybean cultivar 85331715. The genetic marker profile is also useful inbreeding and developing backcross conversions.

The present invention comprises a soybean plant characterized bymolecular and physiological data obtained from the representative sampleof said variety deposited with the American Type Culture Collection(ATCC). Further provided by the invention is a soybean plant formed bythe combination of the disclosed soybean plant or plant cell withanother soybean plant or cell and comprising the homozygous alleles ofthe variety.

Means of performing genetic marker profiles using SSR polymorphisms arewell known in the art. SSRs are genetic markers based on polymorphismsin repeated nucleotide sequences, such as microsatellites. A markersystem based on SSRs can be highly informative in linkage analysisrelative to other marker systems in that multiple alleles may bepresent. Another advantage of this type of marker is that, through useof flanking primers, detection of SSRs can be achieved, for example, bythe polymerase chain reaction (PCR), thereby eliminating the need forlabor-intensive Southern hybridization. The PCR detection is done by useof two oligonucleotide primers flanking the polymorphic segment ofrepetitive DNA. Repeated cycles of heat denaturation of the DNA followedby annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences at lowtemperatures, and extension of the annealed primers with DNA polymerase,comprise the major part of the methodology.

Following amplification, markers can be scored by electrophoresis of theamplification products. Scoring of marker genotype is based on the sizeof the amplified fragment, which may be measured by the number of basepairs of the fragment. While variation in the primer used or inlaboratory procedures can affect the reported fragment size, relativevalues should remain constant regardless of the specific primer orlaboratory used. When comparing varieties it is preferable if all SSRprofiles are performed in the same lab.

Primers used are publicly available and may be found in the Soybase orCregan supra. See also, PCT Publication No. WO 99/31964 NucleotidePolymorphisms in Soybean; U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,967 Positional Cloning ofSoybean Cyst Nematode Resistance Genes; and U.S. application Ser. No.09/954,773 Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome Resistant Soybeans and Methodsof Breeding and Identifying Resistant Plants, the disclosure of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

The SSR profile of soybean plant 85331715 can be used to identify plantscomprising soybean cultivar 85331715 as a parent, since such plants willcomprise the same homozygous alleles as soybean cultivar 85331715.Because the soybean variety is essentially homozygous at all relevantloci, most loci should have only one type of allele present. Incontrast, a genetic marker profile of an F₁ progeny should be the sum ofthose parents, e.g., if one parent was homozygous for allele x at aparticular locus, and the other parent homozygous for allele y at thatlocus, then the F₁ progeny will be xy (heterozygous) at that locus.Subsequent generations of progeny produced by selection and breeding areexpected to be of genotype x (homozygous), y (homozygous), or xy(heterozygous) for that locus position. When the F₁ plant is selfed orsibbed for successive filial generations, the locus should be either xor y for that position.

In addition, plants and plant parts substantially benefiting from theuse of soybean cultivar 85331715 in their development, such as soybeancultivar 85331715 comprising a backcross conversion, transgene, orgenetic sterility factor, may be identified by having a molecular markerprofile with a high percent identity to soybean cultivar 85331715. Sucha percent identity might be 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, or 99.9%identical to soybean cultivar 85331715.

The SSR profile of soybean cultivar 85331715 also can be used toidentify essentially derived varieties and other progeny varietiesdeveloped from the use of soybean cultivar 85331715, as well as cellsand other plant parts thereof. Such plants may be developed using themarkers identified in WO 00/31964, U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,967 and U.S.application Ser. No. 09/954,773. Progeny plants and plant parts producedusing soybean cultivar 85331715 may be identified by having a molecularmarker profile of at least 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%,70%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%,88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5%genetic contribution from soybean variety, as measured by either percentidentity or percent similarity. Such progeny may be furthercharacterized as being within a pedigree distance of soybean cultivar85331715, such as within 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or less cross-pollinations toa soybean plant other than soybean cultivar 85331715 or a plant that hassoybean cultivar 85331715 as a progenitor. Unique molecular profiles maybe identified with other molecular tools such as SNPs and RFLPs.

While determining the SSR genetic marker profile of the plants describedsupra, several unique SSR profiles may also be identified which did notappear in either parent of such plant. Such unique SSR profiles mayarise during the breeding process from recombination or mutation. Acombination of several unique alleles provides a means of identifying aplant variety, an F₁ progeny produced from such variety, and progenyproduced from such variety.

Single-Gene Conversions

When the term “soybean plant” is used in the context of the presentinvention, this also includes any single gene conversions of thatvariety. The term single gene converted plant as used herein refers tothose soybean plants which are developed by a plant breeding techniquecalled backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desired morphologicaland physiological characteristics of a variety are recovered in additionto the single gene transferred into the variety via the backcrossingtechnique. Backcrossing methods can be used with the present inventionto improve or introduce a characteristic into the variety. The term“backcrossing” as used herein refers to the repeated crossing of ahybrid progeny back to the recurrent parent, i.e., backcrossing 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or more times to the recurrent parent. The parentalsoybean plant that contributes the gene for the desired characteristicis termed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers tothe fact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur. The parental soybean plant towhich the gene or genes from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred isknown as the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol (Poehlman & Sleper (1994); Fehr, Principles ofCultivar Development, pp. 261-286 (1987)). In a typical backcrossprotocol, the original variety of interest (recurrent parent) is crossedto a second variety (nonrecurrent parent) that carries the single geneof interest to be transferred. The resulting progeny from this cross arethen crossed again to the recurrent parent and the process is repeateduntil a soybean plant is obtained wherein essentially all of the desiredmorphological and physiological characteristics of the recurrent parentare recovered in the converted plant, in addition to the singletransferred gene from the nonrecurrent parent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalvariety. To accomplish this, a single gene of the recurrent variety ismodified or substituted with the desired gene from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphological,constitution of the original variety. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross; one ofthe major purposes is to add some agronomically important trait to theplant. The exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristicor trait being altered to determine an appropriate testing protocol.Although backcrossing methods are simplified when the characteristicbeing transferred is a dominant allele, a recessive allele may also betransferred. In this instance it may be necessary to introduce a test ofthe progeny to determine if the desired characteristic has beensuccessfully transferred.

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new variety but that can beimproved by backcrossing techniques. Single gene traits may or may notbe transgenic; examples of these traits include but are not limited to,male sterility, waxy starch, herbicide resistance, resistance forbacterial, fungal, or viral disease, insect resistance, male fertility,enhanced nutritional quality, industrial usage, yield stability andyield enhancement. These genes are generally inherited through thenucleus. Several of these single gene traits are described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,959,185; 5,973,234; and 5,977,445, the disclosures of which arespecifically hereby incorporated by reference.

Introduction of a New Trait or Locus into Soybean Cultivar 85331715

Variety 85331715 represents a new base genetic variety into which a newlocus or trait may be introgressed. Direct transformation andbackcrossing represent two important methods that can be used toaccomplish such an introgression. The term backcross conversion andsingle locus conversion are used interchangeably to designate theproduct of a backcrossing program.

Backcross Conversions of Soybean Cultivar 85331715

A backcross conversion of soybean cultivar 85331715 occurs when DNAsequences are introduced through backcrossing (Hallauer et al., “CornBreeding” Corn and Corn Improvements, No. 18, pp. 463-481 (1988)), withsoybean cultivar 85331715 utilized as the recurrent parent. Bothnaturally occurring and transgenic DNA sequences may be introducedthrough backcrossing techniques. A backcross conversion may produce aplant with a trait or locus conversion in at least two or morebackcrosses, including at least 2 crosses, at least 3 crosses, at least4 crosses, at least 5 crosses, and the like. Molecular marker assistedbreeding or selection may be utilized to reduce the number ofbackcrosses necessary to achieve the backcross conversion. For example,see, Openshaw, S. J., et al., Marker-assisted Selection in BackcrossBreeding. In: Proceedings Symposium of the Analysis of Molecular Data,August 1994, Crop Science Society of America, Corvallis, Oreg., where itis demonstrated that a backcross conversion can be made in as few as twobackcrosses.

The complexity of the backcross conversion method depends on the type oftrait being transferred (single genes or closely linked genes as vs.unlinked genes), the level of expression of the trait, the type ofinheritance (cytoplasmic or nuclear) and the types of parents includedin the cross. It is understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat for single gene traits that are relatively easy to classify, thebackcross method is effective and relatively easy to manage. (See,Hallauer et al., Corn and Corn Improvement, Sprague and Dudley, ThirdEd. (1998)). Desired traits that may be transferred through backcrossconversion include, but are not limited to, sterility (nuclear andcytoplasmic), fertility restoration, nutritional enhancements, droughttolerance, nitrogen utilization, altered fatty acid profile, lowphytate, industrial enhancements, disease resistance (bacterial, fungalor viral), insect resistance, and herbicide resistance. In addition, anintrogression site itself, such as an FRT site, Lox site or other sitespecific integration site, may be inserted by backcrossing and utilizedfor direct insertion of one or more genes of interest into a specificplant variety. In some embodiments of the invention, the number of locithat may be backcrossed into soybean cultivar 85331715 is at least 1, 2,3, 4, or 5 and/or no more than 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2. A single locus maycontain several transgenes, such as a transgene for disease resistancethat, in the same expression vector, also contains a transgene forherbicide resistance. The gene for herbicide resistance may be used as aselectable marker and/or as a phenotypic trait. A single locusconversion of site specific integration system allows for theintegration of multiple genes at the converted loci.

The backcross conversion may result from either the transfer of adominant allele or a recessive allele. Selection of progeny containingthe trait of interest is accomplished by direct selection for a traitassociated with a dominant allele. Transgenes transferred viabackcrossing typically function as a dominant single gene trait and arerelatively easy to classify. Selection of progeny for a trait that istransferred via a recessive allele requires growing and selfing thefirst backcross generation to determine which plants carry the recessivealleles. Recessive traits may require additional progeny testing insuccessive backcross generations to determine the presence of the locusof interest. The last backcross generation is usually selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the gene(s) being transferred, although abackcross conversion with a stably introgressed trait may also bemaintained by further backcrossing to the recurrent parent withselection for the converted trait.

Along with selection for the trait of interest, progeny are selected forthe phenotype of the recurrent parent. The backcross is a form ofinbreeding, and the features of the recurrent parent are automaticallyrecovered after successive backcrosses. Poehlman, Breeding Field Crops,p. 204 (1987). Poehlman suggests from one to four or more backcrosses,but as noted above, the number of backcrosses necessary can be reducedwith the use of molecular markers. Other factors, such as a geneticallysimilar donor parent, may also reduce the number of backcrossesnecessary. As noted by Poehlman, backcrossing is easiest for simplyinherited, dominant and easily recognized traits.

One process for adding or modifying a trait or locus in soybean variety85331715 comprises crossing soybean cultivar 85331715 plants grown fromsoybean cultivar 85331715 seed with plants of another soybean varietythat comprise the desired trait or locus, selecting F₁ progeny plantsthat comprise the desired trait or locus to produce selected F₁ progenyplants, crossing the selected progeny plants with the soybean cultivar85331715 plants to produce backcross progeny plants, selecting forbackcross progeny plants that have the desired trait or locus and themorphological characteristics of soybean variety 85331715 to produceselected backcross progeny plants; and backcrossing to soybean cultivar85331715 three or more times in succession to produce selected fourth orhigher backcross progeny plants that comprise said trait or locus. Themodified soybean cultivar 85331715 may be further characterized ashaving the physiological and morphological characteristics of soybeanvariety 85331715 listed in Table 1 as determined at the 5% significancelevel when grown in the same environmental conditions and/or may becharacterized by percent similarity or identity to soybean cultivar85331715 as determined by SSR markers. The above method may be utilizedwith fewer backcrosses in appropriate situations, such as when the donorparent is highly related or markers are used in the selection step.Desired traits that may be used include those nucleic acids known in theart, some of which are listed herein, that will affect traits throughnucleic acid expression or inhibition. Desired loci include theintrogression of FRT, Lox and other sites for site specific integration,which may also affect a desired trait if a functional nucleic acid isinserted at the integration site.

In addition, the above process and other similar processes describedherein may be used to produce first generation progeny soybean seed byadding a step at the end of the process that comprises crossing soybeancultivar 85331715 with the introgressed trait or locus with a differentsoybean plant and harvesting the resultant first generation progenysoybean seed.

Tissue Culture

Further reproduction of the variety can occur by tissue culture andregeneration. Tissue culture of various tissues of soybeans andregeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published. Forexample, reference may be had to Komatsuda, T., et al., Crop Sci.31:333-337 (1991); Stephens, P. A., et al., Theor. Appl. Genet.82:633-635 (1991); Komatsuda, T., et al., Plant Cell, Tissue and OrganCulture, 28:103-113 (1992); Dhir, S. et al., Plant Cell Reports11:285-289 (1992); Pandey, P. et al., Japan J. Breed. 42:1-5 (1992); andShetty, K., et al., Plant Science 81:245-251 (1992); as well as U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,024,944 issued Jun. 18, 1991 to Collins et al., and5,008,200 issued Apr. 16, 1991 to Ranch et al. Thus, another aspect ofthis invention is to provide cells which upon growth and differentiationproduce soybean plants having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of soybean cultivar 85331715.

As used herein, the term “tissue culture” indicates a compositioncomprising isolated cells of the same or a different type or acollection of such cells organized into parts of a plant. Exemplarytypes of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, plant clumps, and plantcells that can generate tissue culture that are intact in plants orparts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, flowers, seeds, pods,petioles, leaves, stems, roots, root tips, anthers, pistils and thelike. Means for preparing and maintaining plant tissue culture are wellknown in the art. By way of example, a tissue culture comprising organshas been used to produce regenerated plants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,185;5,973,234; and 5,977,445 describe certain techniques, the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

Using Soybean Cultivar 85331715 to Develop Other Soybean Varieties

Soybean varieties such as soybean cultivar 85331715 are typicallydeveloped for use in seed and grain production. However, soybeanvarieties such as soybean cultivar 85331715 also provide a source ofbreeding material that may be used to develop new soybean varieties.Plant breeding techniques known in the art and used in a soybean plantbreeding program include, but are not limited to, recurrent selection,mass selection, bulk selection, mass selection, backcrossing, pedigreebreeding, open pollination breeding, restriction fragment lengthpolymorphism enhanced selection, genetic marker enhanced selection,making double haploids, and transformation. Often combinations of thesetechniques are used. The development of soybean varieties in a plantbreeding program requires, in general, the development and evaluation ofhomozygous varieties. There are many analytical methods available toevaluate a new variety. The oldest and most traditional method ofanalysis is the observation of phenotypic traits but genotypic analysismay also be used.

Additional Breeding Methods

This invention is directed to methods for producing a soybean plant bycrossing a first parent soybean plant with a second parent soybean plantwherein either the first or second parent soybean plant is variety85331715. The other parent may be any other soybean plant, such as asoybean plant that is part of a synthetic or natural population. Anysuch methods using soybean variety 85331715 are part of this invention:selfing, sibbing, backcrosses, mass selection, pedigree breeding, bulkselection, hybrid production, crosses to populations, and the like.These methods are well known in the art and some of the more commonlyused breeding methods are described below. Descriptions of breedingmethods can be found in one of several reference books (e.g., Allard,Principles of Plant Breeding (1960); Simmonds, Principles of CropImprovement (1979); Sneep et al. (1979); Fehr, “Breeding Methods forCultivar Development,” Chapter 7, Soybean Improvement, Production andUses, 2.sup.nd ed., Wilcox editor (1987).

The following describes breeding methods that may be used with soybeancultivar 85331715 in the development of further soybean plants. One suchembodiment is a method for developing a cultivar 85331715 progenysoybean plant in a soybean plant breeding program comprising: obtainingthe soybean plant, or a part thereof, of cultivar 85331715 utilizingsaid plant or plant part as a source of breeding material and selectinga soybean cultivar 85331715 progeny plant with molecular markers incommon with cultivar 85331715 and/or with morphological and/orphysiological characteristics selected from the characteristics listedin Tables 1 or 2. Breeding steps that may be used in the soybean plantbreeding program include pedigree breeding, backcrossing, mutationbreeding, and recurrent selection. In conjunction with these steps,techniques such as RFLP-enhanced selection, genetic marker enhancedselection (for example, SSR markers) and the making of double haploidsmay be utilized.

Another method involves producing a population of soybean cultivar85331715 progeny soybean plants, comprising crossing cultivar 85331715with another soybean plant, thereby producing a population of soybeanplants, which, on average, derive 50% of their alleles from soybeancultivar 85331715. A plant of this population may be selected andrepeatedly selfed or sibbed with a soybean cultivar resulting from thesesuccessive filial generations. One embodiment of this invention is thesoybean cultivar produced by this method and that has obtained at least50% of its alleles from soybean cultivar 85331715.

One of ordinary skill in the art of plant breeding would know how toevaluate the traits of two plant varieties to determine if there is nosignificant difference between the two traits expressed by thosevarieties. For example, see, Fehr and Walt, Principles of CultivarDevelopment, pp. 261-286 (1987). Thus the invention includes soybeancultivar 85331715 progeny soybean plants comprising a combination of atleast two cultivar 85331715 traits selected from the group consisting ofthose listed in Tables 1 and 2 or the cultivar 85331715 combination oftraits listed in the Summary of the Invention, so that said progenysoybean plant is not significantly different for said traits thansoybean cultivar 85331715 as determined at the 5% significance levelwhen grown in the same environmental conditions. Using techniquesdescribed herein, molecular markers may be used to identify said progenyplant as a soybean cultivar 85331715 progeny plant. Mean trait valuesmay be used to determine whether trait differences are significant, andpreferably the traits are measured on plants grown under the sameenvironmental conditions. Once such a variety is developed its value issubstantial since it is important to advance the germplasm base as awhole in order to maintain or improve traits such as yield, diseaseresistance, pest resistance, and plant performance in extremeenvironmental conditions.

Progeny of soybean cultivar 85331715 may also be characterized throughtheir filial relationship with soybean cultivar 85331715, as forexample, being within a certain number of breeding crosses of soybeancultivar 85331715. A breeding cross is a cross made to introduce newgenetics into the progeny, and is distinguished from a cross, such as aself or a sib cross, made to select among existing genetic alleles. Thelower the number of breeding crosses in the pedigree, the closer therelationship between soybean cultivar 85331715 and its progeny. Forexample, progeny produced by the methods described herein may be within1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 breeding crosses of soybean cultivar 85331715.

As used herein, the term “plant” includes plant cells, plantprotoplasts, plant cell tissue cultures from which soybean plants can beregenerated, plant calli, plant clumps, and plant cells that are intactin plants or parts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, ovules, flowers,pods, leaves, roots, root tips, anthers, cotyledons, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, stems, pistils, petiole, and the like.

Pedigree Breeding

Pedigree breeding starts with the crossing of two genotypes, such assoybean cultivar 85331715 and another soybean variety having one or moredesirable characteristics that is lacking or which complements soybeancultivar 85331715. If the two original parents do not provide all thedesired characteristics, other sources can be included in the breedingpopulation. In the pedigree method, superior plants are selfed andselected in successive filial generations. In the succeeding filialgenerations the heterozygous condition gives way to homogeneousvarieties as a result of self-pollination and selection. Typically inthe pedigree method of breeding, five or more successive filialgenerations of selfing and selection is practiced: F₁ to F₂; F₂ to F₃;F₃ to F₄; F₄ to F₅; etc. After a sufficient amount of inbreeding,successive filial generations will serve to increase seed of thedeveloped variety. Preferably, the developed variety compriseshomozygous alleles at about 95% or more of its loci.

In addition to being used to create a backcross conversion, backcrossingcan also be used in combination with pedigree breeding. As discussedpreviously, backcrossing can be used to transfer one or morespecifically desirable traits from one variety, the donor parent, to adeveloped variety called the recurrent parent, which has overall goodagronomic characteristics yet lacks that desirable trait or traits.However, the same procedure can be used to move the progeny toward thegenotype of the recurrent parent but at the same time retain manycomponents of the non-recurrent parent by stopping the backcrossing atan early stage and proceeding with selfing and selection. For example, asoybean variety may be crossed with another variety to produce a firstgeneration progeny plant. The first generation progeny plant may then bebackcrossed to one of its parent varieties to create a BC₁ or BC₂.Progeny are selfed and selected so that the newly developed variety hasmany of the attributes of the recurrent parent and yet several of thedesired attributes of the non-recurrent parent. This approach leveragesthe value and strengths of the recurrent parent for use in new soybeanvarieties.

Therefore, an embodiment of this invention is a method of making abackcross conversion of soybean variety 85331715, comprising the stepsof crossing a plant of soybean variety 85331715 with a donor plantcomprising a desired trait, selecting an F₁ progeny plant comprising thedesired trait, and backcrossing the selected F₁ progeny plant to a plantof soybean variety 85331715. This method may further comprise the stepof obtaining a molecular marker profile of soybean variety 85331715 andusing the molecular marker profile to select for a progeny plant withthe desired trait and the molecular marker profile of soybean cultivar85331715. In one embodiment the desired trait is a mutant gene ortransgene present in the donor parent.

Recurrent Selection and Mass Selection

Recurrent selection is a method used in a plant breeding program toimprove a population of plants. Soybean Cultivar 85331715 is suitablefor use in a recurrent selection program. The method entails individualplants cross pollinating with each other to form progeny. The progenyare grown and the superior progeny selected by any number of selectionmethods, which include individual plant, half-sib progeny, full-sibprogeny and selfed progeny. The selected progeny are cross pollinatedwith each other to form progeny for another population. This populationis planted and again superior plants are selected to cross pollinatewith each other. Recurrent selection is a cyclical process and thereforecan be repeated as many times as desired. The objective of recurrentselection is to improve the traits of a population. The improvedpopulation can then be used as a source of breeding material to obtainnew varieties for commercial or breeding use, including the productionof a synthetic cultivar. A synthetic cultivar is the resultant progenyformed by the intercrossing of several selected varieties.

Mass selection is a useful technique when used in conjunction withmolecular marker enhanced selection. In mass selection seeds fromindividuals are selected based on phenotype or genotype. These selectedseeds are then bulked and used to grow the next generation. Bulkselection requires growing a population of plants in a bulk plot,allowing the plants to self-pollinate, harvesting the seed in bulk andthen using a sample of the seed harvested in bulk to plant the nextgeneration. Also, instead of self pollination, directed pollinationcould be used as part of the breeding program.

Mutation Breeding

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits intosoybean variety 85331715. Mutations that occur spontaneously or areartificially induced can be useful sources of variability for a plantbreeder. The goal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate ofmutation for a desired characteristic. Mutation rates can be increasedby many different means including temperature, long-term seed storage,tissue culture conditions, radiation; such as X-rays, Gamma rays (e.g.,cobalt 60 or cesium 137), neutrons, (product of nuclear fission byuranium 235 in an atomic reactor), Beta radiation (emitted fromradioisotopes such as phosphorus 32 or carbon 14), or ultravioletradiation (preferably from 2500 to 2900 nm), or chemical mutagens (suchas base analogues (5-bromo-uracil), related compounds (8-ethoxycaffeine), antibiotics (streptonigrin), alkylating agents (sulfurmustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethylenamines, sulfates,sulfonates, sulfones, lactones), azide, hydroxylamine, nitrous acid, oracridines. Once a desired trait is observed through mutagenesis thetrait may then be incorporated into existing germplasm by traditionalbreeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding can be found in“Principles of Cultivar Development” Fehr, Macmillan Publishing Company(1993). In addition, mutations created in other soybean plants may beused to produce a backcross conversion of soybean cultivar 85331715 thatcomprises such mutation.

Breeding with Molecular Markers

Molecular markers, which includes markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs),Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats(SSRs) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), may be used in plantbreeding methods utilizing soybean cultivar 85331715.

Isozyme Electrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determinegenetic composition. Shoemaker and Olsen, Molecular Linkage Map ofSoybean (Glycine max L. Merr.), pp. 6.131-6.138 (1993). In S. J. O'Brien(ed.) Genetic Maps: Locus Maps of Complex Genomes, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., developed a moleculargenetic linkage map that consisted of 25 linkage groups with about 365RFLP, 11 RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA), three classicalmarkers, and four isozyme loci. See also, Shoemaker R. C. 1994 RFLP Mapof Soybean, pp. 299-309; In R. L. Phillips and I. K. Vasil (ed.)DNA-based markers in plants, Kluwer Academic Press Dordrecht, theNetherlands.

SSR technology is currently the most efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci can be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus can be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. Forexample, Diwan and Cregan described a highly polymorphic microsatelliteloci in soybean with as many as 26 alleles. (Diwan, N., and P. B.Cregan, Automated sizing of fluorescent-labeled simple sequence repeat(SSR) markers to assay genetic variation in Soybean Theor. Appl. Genet.95:220-225 (1997). Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms may also be used toidentify the unique genetic composition of the invention and progenyvarieties retaining that unique genetic composition. Various molecularmarker techniques may be used in combination to enhance overallresolution.

Soybean DNA molecular marker linkage maps have been rapidly constructedand widely implemented in genetic studies. One such study is describedin Cregan et. al, “An Integrated Genetic Linkage Map of the SoybeanGenome” Crop Science 39:1464-1490 (1999). Sequences and PCR conditionsof SSR Loci in Soybean as well as the most current genetic map may befound in Soybase on the world wide web.

One use of molecular markers is Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping.QTL mapping is the use of markers, which are known to be closely linkedto alleles that have measurable effects on a quantitative trait.Selection in the breeding process is based upon the accumulation ofmarkers linked to the positive effecting alleles and/or the eliminationof the markers linked to the negative effecting alleles from the plant'sgenome.

Molecular markers can also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest can be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers can also beused to select for the genome of the recurrent parent and against thegenome of the donor parent. Using this procedure can minimize the amountof genome from the donor parent that remains in the selected plants. Itcan also be used to reduce the number of crosses back to the recurrentparent needed in a backcrossing program. The use of molecular markers inthe selection process is often called genetic marker enhanced selection.Molecular markers may also be used to identify and exclude certainsources of germplasm as parental varieties or ancestors of a plant byproviding a means of tracking genetic profiles through crosses.

Production of Double Haploids

The production of double haploids can also be used for the developmentof plants with a homozygous phenotype in the breeding program. Forexample, a soybean plant for which soybean cultivar 85331715 is a parentcan be used to produce double haploid plants. Double haploids areproduced by the doubling of a set of chromosomes (1 N) from aheterozygous plant to produce a completely homozygous individual. Forexample, see, Wan et al., “Efficient Production of Doubled HaploidPlants Through Colchicine Treatment of Anther-Derived Maize Callus,”Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 77:889-892 (1989) and U.S. Pat. No.7,135,615. This can be advantageous because the process omits thegenerations of selfing needed to obtain a homozygous plant from aheterozygous source.

Haploid induction systems have been developed for various plants toproduce haploid tissues, plants and seeds. The haploid induction systemcan produce haploid plants from any genotype by crossing a selected line(as female) with an inducer line. Such inducer lines for maize includeStock 6 (Coe, Am. Nat. 93:381-382 (1959); Sharkar and Coe, Genetics54:453-464 (1966), KEMS (Deimling, Roeber, and Geiger, Vortr.Pflanzenzuchtg 38:203-224 (1997), or KMS and ZMS (Chalyk, Bylich &Chebotar, MNL 68:47 (1994); Chalyk & Chebotar, Plant Breeding119:363-364 (2000), and indeterminate gametophyte (ig) mutation(Kermicle, Science 166:1422-1424 (1969). The disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Methods for obtaining haploid plants are also disclosed in Kobayashi, M.et al., Journ. of Heredity 71(1):9-14 (1980); Pollacsek, M., Agronomie(Paris) 12(3):247-251 (1992); Cho-Un-Haing et al., Journ. of PlantBiol., 39(3):185-188 (1996); Verdoodt, L., et al., 96(2):294-300(February 1998); Genetic Manipulation in Plant Breeding, ProceedingsInternational Symposium Organized by EUCARPIA, Berlin, Germany (Sep.8-13, 1985); Chalyk et al., Maize Genet Coop. Newsletter 68:47 (1994).

Thus, an embodiment of this invention is a process for making asubstantially homozygous soybean cultivar 85331715 progeny plant byproducing or obtaining a seed from the cross of soybean cultivar85331715 and another soybean plant and applying double haploid methodsto the F₁ seed or F₁ plant or to any successive filial generation. Basedon studies in maize and currently being conducted in soybean, suchmethods would decrease the number of generations required to produce avariety with similar genetics or characteristics to soybean cultivar85331715. See, Bernardo, R. and Kahler, A. L., Theor. Appl. Genet.102:986-992 (2001).

In particular, a process of making seed retaining the molecular markerprofile of soybean variety 85331715 is contemplated, such processcomprising obtaining or producing F₁ seed for which soybean variety85331715 is a parent, inducing doubled haploids to create progenywithout the occurrence of meiotic segregation, obtaining the molecularmarker profile of soybean variety 85331715, and selecting progeny thatretain the molecular marker profile of soybean cultivar 85331715.

Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used fordifferent traits and crops can be found in one of several referencebooks (e.g., Allard (1960); Simmonds (1979); Sneep et al. (1979); Fehr(1987)).

Industrial Uses

The seed of soybean cultivar 85331715, the plant produced from the seed,the hybrid soybean plant produced from the crossing of the variety withany other soybean plant, hybrid seed, and various parts of the hybridsoybean plant can be utilized for human food, livestock feed, and as araw material in industry. The soybean seed can be crushed or a componentof the soybean seed can be extracted in order to comprise a componentfor a food or feed product.

The soybean is the world's leading source of vegetable oil and proteinmeal. The oil extracted from soybeans is used for cooking oil,margarine, and salad dressings. Soybean oil is composed of saturated,monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. It has a typicalcomposition of 11% palmitic, 4% stearic, 25% oleic, 50% linoleic and 9%linolenic fatty acid content (“Economic Implications of Modified SoybeanTraits Summary Report,” Iowa Soybean Promotion Board and AmericanSoybean Association Special Report 92S (May 1990)). Changes in fattyacid composition for improved oxidative stability and nutrition areconstantly sought after. Industrial uses of soybean oil which issubjected to further processing include ingredients for paints,plastics, fibers, detergents, cosmetics, lubricants and biodiesel fuel.Soybean oil may be split, inter-esterified, sulfurized, epoxidized,polymerized, ethoxylated, or cleaved. Designing and producing soybeanoil derivatives with improved functionality and improved oliochemistryis a rapidly growing field. The typical mixture of triglycerides isusually split and separated into pure fatty acids, which are thencombined with petroleum-derived alcohols or acids, nitrogen, sulfonates,chlorine, or with fatty alcohols derived from fats and oils.

Soybean is also used as a food source for both animals and humans.Soybean is widely used as a source of protein for animal feeds forpoultry, swine and cattle. During processing of whole soybeans, thefibrous hull is removed and the oil is extracted. The remaining soybeanmeal is a combination of carbohydrates and approximately 50% protein.

For human consumption soybean meal is made into soybean flour which isprocessed to protein concentrates used for meat extenders or specialtypet foods. Production of edible protein ingredients from soybean offersa healthier, less expensive replacement for animal protein in meats aswell as in dairy-type products.

Table

In Table 2 that follows, the traits and characteristics of soybeancultivar 85331715 are compared to several competing varieties ofcommercial soybeans of similar maturity. In Table 2, column 1 shows thecomparison number, column 2 shows the test year, column 3 shows thenumber of locations, column 4 shows the number of observations, column 5indicates the genotype, column 6 shows the mean yield, column 7indicates the t value and columns 8 and 9 indicate the critical t valuesat the 0.05% and 0.01% levels of significance, respectively.

As shown in Table 2, soybean cultivar 85331715 yields better than 10commercial varieties with the increase over 6 varieties beingsignificant at the 0.01 level of probability and the increase over 4varieties being significant at the 0.05 level of probability.

TABLE 2 PAIRED COMPARISONS Comp # of # of Mean Critical Critical # YearLoc. Obs. Genotype Yld t Value t @ .05 t @ .01 1 2008 24 77 8533171546.2 3.20** 1.67 2.38 CSR20Y03 44.3 2 2008 24 79 85331715 46.2 1.85*1.66 2.38 CSR2252N 45.1 3 2008 24 79 85331715 46.2 1.88* 1.66 2.38AG2406 45.1 4 2008 24 77 85331715 46.3 5.31** 1.67 2.38 RY2101 43.6 52008 24 79 85331715 46.2 4.54** 1.66 2.38 CSR2432N 43.4 6 2008 24 7985331715 46.2 5.86** 1.66 2.38 P92M21 42.9 7 2008 24 79 85331715 46.21.85* 1.66 2.38 AG2606 45.1 8 2008 24 79 85331715 46.2 1.70* 1.66 2.38CSRX256 45.2 9 2008 24 79 85331715 46.2 2.59** 1.66 2.38 RY2501 44.8 102008 24 79 85331715 46.2 4.90** 1.66 2.38 CSR2522N 43.4 *Significant at.05 level of probability **Significant at .01 level of probability

Deposit Information

A deposit of the Stine Seed Farm, Inc. and Monsanto Technology LLCproprietary Soybean Cultivar 85331715 disclosed above and recited in theappended claims has been made with the American Type Culture Collection(ATCC), 10801 University Boulevard, Manassas, Va. 20110. The date ofdeposit was May 21, 2010. The deposit of 2,500 seeds was taken from thesame deposit maintained by Stine Seed Farm, Inc. since prior to thefiling date of this application. All restrictions will be removed upongranting of a patent, and the deposit is intended to meet all of therequirements of 37 C.F.R. §§1.801-1.809. The ATCC Accession Number isPTA-10987. The deposit will be maintained in the depository for a periodof thirty years, or five years after the last request, or for theenforceable life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will bereplaced as necessary during that period.

While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussedabove, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is thereforeintended that the following appended claims and claims hereafterintroduced are interpreted to include all such modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their truespirit and scope.

1. A seed of soybean cultivar 85331715, representative sample seed ofsaid cultivar is deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-10987.
 2. Asoybean plant, or a part thereof, produced by growing the seed ofclaim
 1. 3. A tissue culture produced from protoplasts or cells from theplant of claim 2, wherein said cells or protoplasts are produced from aplant part selected from the group consisting of leaf, pollen, ovule,embryo, cotyledon, hypocotyl, meristematic cell, root, root tip, pistil,anther, flower, seed, shoot, stem, pod and petiole.
 4. A soybean plantregenerated from the tissue culture of claim
 3. 5. A method forproducing a soybean seed, said method comprising crossing two soybeanplants and harvesting the resultant soybean seed, wherein at least onesoybean plant is the soybean plant of claim
 2. 6. A soybean seedproduced by the method of claim
 5. 7. A soybean plant, or a partthereof, produced by growing said seed of claim
 6. 8. The method ofclaim 5, wherein at least one of said soybean plants is transgenic.
 9. Amethod of producing a herbicide resistant soybean plant, wherein saidmethod comprises introducing a gene conferring herbicide resistance intothe plant of claim
 2. 10. A herbicide resistant soybean plant producedby the method of claim 9, wherein the gene confers resistance to aherbicide selected from the group consisting of glyphosate,sulfonylurea, imidazolinone, dicamba; glufosinate, phenoxy proprionicacid, L-phosphinothricin, cyclohexone, cyclohexanedione, triazine, andbenzonitrile.
 11. A method of producing a pest or insect resistantsoybean plant, wherein said method comprises introducing a geneconferring pest or insect resistance into the soybean plant of claim 2.12. A pest or insect resistant soybean plant produced by the method ofclaim
 11. 13. The soybean plant of claim 12, wherein the gene encodes aBacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxin.
 14. A method of producing adisease resistant soybean plant, wherein said method comprisesintroducing a gene which confers disease resistance into the soybeanplant of claim
 2. 15. A disease resistant soybean plant produced by themethod of claim
 14. 16. A method of producing a soybean plant withmodified fatty acid metabolism or modified carbohydrate metabolism,wherein the method comprises introducing a gene encoding a proteinselected from the group consisting of phytase, fructosyltransferase,levansucrase, α-amylase, invertase and starch branching enzyme orencoding an antisense of stearyl-ACP desaturase into the soybean plantof claim
 2. 17. A soybean plant having modified fatty acid metabolism ormodified carbohydrate metabolism produced by the method of claim
 16. 18.A method of introducing a desired trait into soybean cultivar 85331715,wherein the method comprises: (a) crossing a 85331715 plant, wherein arepresentative sample of seed is deposited under ATCC Accession No.PTA-10987, with a plant of another soybean cultivar that comprises adesired trait to produce progeny plants wherein the desired trait isselected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicideresistance, insect resistance, modified fatty acid metabolism, modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism, modified seed yield, modified oil percent,modified protein percent, modified lodging resistance, modifiedshattering, modified iron-deficiency chlorosis and resistance tobacterial disease, fungal disease or viral disease; (b) selecting one ormore progeny plants that have the desired trait to produce selectedprogeny plants; (c) crossing the selected progeny plants with the85331715 plant to produce backcross progeny plants; (d) selecting forbackcross progeny plants that have the desired trait and all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of soybean cultivar85331715 listed in Table 1; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) two ormore times in succession to produce selected third or higher backcrossprogeny plants that comprise the desired trait and all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of soybean cultivar85331715 listed in Table
 1. 19. A soybean plant produced by the methodof claim 18, wherein the plant has the desired trait.
 20. The soybeanplant of claim 19, wherein the desired trait is herbicide resistance andthe resistance is conferred to an herbicide selected from the groupconsisting of imidazolinone, dicamba, cyclohexanedione, sulfonylurea,glyphosate, glufosinate, phenoxy proprionic acid, L-phosphinothricin,triazine and benzonitrile.
 21. The soybean plant of claim 19, whereinthe desired trait is insect resistance and the insect resistance isconferred by a gene encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxin.
 22. Thesoybean plant of claim 19, wherein the desired trait is modified fattyacid metabolism or modified carbohydrate metabolism and said desiredtrait is conferred by a nucleic acid encoding a protein selected fromthe group consisting of phytase, fructosyltransferase, levansucrase,α-amylase, invertase and starch branching enzyme or encoding anantisense of stearyl-ACP desaturase.
 23. A method of producing acommodity plant product, comprising obtaining the plant of claim 2, or apart thereof, wherein the commodity plant product is proteinconcentrate, protein isolate, soybean hulls, meal, flour or oil.